Hi-hi! *beaming happily, talya waves to the ML* 'Kay, here it is. This is the second part of Warning Label! and I've decided to make it a three-part fic. Stay tuned for the upcoming third part...sometime tomorrow...er, later today.
*the author buries her head in her hands* Swelp me, they won. This was my first attempt at a non-yaoi Hiei/Kurama fic. I tried. I really tried. But the ice cream scene undid me. Hiei...here's your money...you won...
Hiei : The bet was for fanfic requests, not money. Hn. Stupid fic writer.
Me : What more did you want!? I already made Kurama get pregnant for you...
So yes, this fic carries a mild shonen ai alert.
Ja ne!
Talya
Warning Label!
Copyright 1998 by Talya Firedancer
Standard disclaimers! These characters were created by, and belong to, Yoshihiro Togashi. They ain't mine! So don't sue. (Deja vu, ne?)
Shiori smoothed a hand over her son's brow. "You *are* warm," she murmured, examining her son's flushed face. "I'm going to have you stay home from school today."
Shuuichi wiped at his flushed, damp skin. "But 'Kaasan," he protested faintly.
Shiori fixed him with a firm motherly Look. "Don't you 'but 'Kaasan' me, Shuu-chan. Back to bed. I'll call the school. You're such a good student I think you can miss a day, ne?"
Shuuichi submitted to his mother's declaration with a little sigh. "Hai, 'Kaasan," he replied, subdued.
"Now go to bed. I have to go to work now - I'll call the school first, and check with you later."
"Okay," Shuuichi exhaled reluctantly. Shiori gave him a hug then a gentle push towards his room.
Kurama shuffled off, adding a little cough for good measure. Having a mischievously playful little fire demon around was useful - he'd bribed Hiei to raise his temperature, promising him the "sweet stuff" in return. He was lucky the overenthusiastic little booger hadn't set him on fire, in his eagerness to get to the ice cream.
He opened the door and a small dark figure hurtled at him. Kurama caught Hiei with a surprised 'oof,' shoving the door shut as he fell against it.
"Kurama-chan! I've been waiting. I waited good. See?" Hiei smiled up into his face, eyes bright.
Kurama felt a sudden pang tighten his ribcage, caught by surprise not so much at the ambush but at Hiei himself. He was. . .cute. Adorable, actually. Not for the first time Kurama wondered how old his Koorime friend really *was* -- and if what he was seeing now was what he could have been as a child.
"You were very good," he assured him, and Hiei wriggled happily against him. Kurama hid his expression against the surprisingly soft black bristles of Hiei's hair, silently cursing whomever had hurt Hiei so badly in the past that he had closed up so completely, hiding all of this sweetness and. . .well, just plain adorable-ness.
Then he yowled as he felt little sparks burning and nipping at his skin, and he dropped Hiei on the ground. "You little hellion!" he exclaimed, slapping hastily at the smoldering embers that had burned through his pajama top. Hiei was giggling madly, rolling around on the ground. The top was ruined.
"I'm hungry!" Hiei announced, then poked at his bandages, frowning absently.
"Don't touch those," Kurama scolded him absently, pulling off his scorched pajama top and finding some non-uniform clothes.
Hiei stuck his tongue out at him, then went back to picking at the bandages.
"This is going to be a *long* day," Kurama observed ruefully.
* * *
"Thank you for coming! Goodbye! *Goodbye!*" the harried female employee bowed, the only sincerity breaking through in her voice at the farewell. She was glad to be rid of them. Her pink uniform was a wreck, besmeared and daubed liberally with mint, vanilla, chocolate, orange colored smears - and something that looked suspiciously like a large cigarette burn but Kurama knew better.
"Hiei. . ." he sighed as the door closed behind them.
Hiei glanced up at him innocently, then gave him a wide mint chip grin. "Mmn?" he responded, mouth full.
Kurama was very glad he'd grabbed napkins. "Nothing," he conceded, repressing a snicker.
Hiei lifted up an arm, nuzzling at the bandages with sticky lips.
"Don't!" Kurama warned, swatting at his arm and Hiei growled, subsiding petulantly.
"Where are we going?" Hiei inquired, docile now that his face was plastered with daiquiri ice and mint chip.
"Genkai's temple," Kurama replied, grimly clutching one of Hiei's grubby little paws.
Hiei brightened, wiping at his smudged face with the back of his hand, smearing it worse. "To see Yukina?"
Kurama couldn't help it. He groaned and whipped out a crumpled wad of napkins, dabbing at Hiei's face. "Yes, to see Yukina."
"Yay!" Hiei cheered, waving his ice cream around and hitting Kurama in the face with a loud *splat.* Hiei fell silent for a moment as if stunned by the enormity of his action.
Then Kurama opened his eyes, blinking around the spatters of pale green creamy substance that spanned the bridge of his nose and coated the skin around his eyes.
Hiei started to chuckle.
"You little-"
Then he froze, as Hiei reached up, grabbing a sidelock of hair and yanking his face down until their noses were almost touching.
Kurama blinked again, startled to feel Hiei's warm breath against his cheek, then his heart made an odd sort of spasm as Hiei's tongue emerged and swiped slowly across the smear of ice cream tracking over his cheek. He paused, then pulled Kurama's head closer, licking his other cheek.
"Hiei!?" Kurama gasped, pulling away.
Hiei scowled and grabbed his hair even more firmly, tugging him down so quickly their noses bumped. Kurama let out a startled huff of surprise before their lips met, too, smacking together as Hiei kissed him emphatically. Hiei's lips were sweet and sticky, a mingling of daiquiri ice and the chocolatey mint chip flavor.
Finally Hiei released him, regarding him with unblinking red eyes for a moment before he grimaced and tugged at the bandages on his arm with his teeth.
Kurama was stunned. "You little demon," he said softly, pushing Hiei's arm away from his face. "Why'd you do that?"
Not that he wasn't very, very pleased.
Hiei's face remained averted. He took a huge bite of ice cream. "Mkmm mm mmmv oo."
Kurama shrugged and used the napkins on himself, carefully cleaning away the thick smears Hiei hadn't reached.
"C'mon, let's go."
* * *
Yukina was gardening in front of the temple when Kurama hauled his problem child up the steps. As they approached Kurama had to bodily haul the wriggling double armful of Koorime up the steps.
"It's just Yukina!" Kurama protested, holding tightly as Hiei thrashed and spat.
"No! Don' wanna go!" Hiei howled, clamping his teeth down hard.
Kurama gritted his teeth and clung grimly.
He figured this sudden reversal was a reflection of Hiei's deeply mixed feelings about his sister - how he wanted to be with her, yet feared telling her so much he was just unable to express his feelings.
Then he felt something sizzling.
"You little brat!" Kurama exclaimed, patience fraying. He dropped Hiei as they topped the last step, spotting a wide-eyed Yukina staring in their direction.
"Yukina!" Hiei caroled, blurring as he approached the ice maiden at top speed and leapt into her arms.
"H-hiei-san?" she faltered, shocked.
Kurama scowled at this sudden mood switch again, and examined the burn mark on his arm.
Yukina looked up as Kurama approached. Hiei had his arms locked around Yukina's neck and he was purring.
"Kurama-san, what happened?" Yukina asked him in bewilderment, her upturned face confused. Her deep red eyes matched Hiei's.
Kurama heaved a sigh and pulled out the tube of salve, smearing some over the burn mark. He'd brought some, along with more bandages, knowing Hiei would probably tear the bandages off in a fit of irritation or sheer brattiness.
"I wish I knew!" Kurama threw his hands up in despair.
Quickly he explained to Yukina how he'd found Hiei yesterday, and how he'd woken up that morning to hyperactive Hiei.
"Oh my," was all Yukina could manage, as Hiei wriggled away, curiously inspecting the flowers the pretty ice maiden had been tending.
"I just can't account for his behavior," Kurama said helplessly. "He's been acting like a little kid, playing practical jokes, bouncing around like a little nut, acting like he's got attention deficit disorder, and. . ." Kurama trailed off, remembering Hiei licking his cheek. He flushed.
Yukina frowned sweetly as Hiei started jiggling from one foot to the other, then Kurama started forward as the little Koorime scratched viciously at the bandages on his arms again, making a small noise as he tugged off the bandages.
"Stop that," he protested, but Hiei flickered away from him, moving to appear on the other side of Yukina.
He stuck his tongue out defiantly. "Bpeeta, Kurama-chan!" Hiei announced, his childish words absurdly contrasting with his deep voice. Then he lowered the outstretched tongue to his wounds.
"Yameno-" Kurama started forward again, determined to grab him and catch him and maybe spank him for good measure. He paused, oddly intrigued by the thought.
"No, wait," Yukina caught at his arm, a frown puckering her brow as she watched Hiei lick at the wounds criss-crossing his arms, pausing occasionally to eye Kurama defiantly.
Kurama scowled.
Hiei swiped at the bloody marks thoroughly; they were mostly scabbed over but still oozing a little. Kurama made a noise and moved forward again.
"Stop," Yukina told him, still watching Hiei. "He's trying to clean it, Kurama. Were the wounds poisoned?"
"Iie. . ." he frowned. "I don't think so. But I put some salve on them, just to be sure."
"What?" Yukina turned to him, her expression suddenly anxious. "What kind of salve!?"
"Huh?" Kurama replied cleverly, then pulled out the little tube and handed it to her. "What would the salve have to do with it?"
Yukina's eyes widened as she read the tiny label on the side of the tube, then suddenly, unexpectedly, she smacked him. "Kurama no baka!" Yukina scolded him, waving the tube of salve in his face almost menacingly. "You, of all people, should know better than to apply a healing salve without reading the label!"
"What!? Why? What did I do!?" Kurama demanded, holding up his hands defensively.
Yukina snorted, the sound almost as cynical as her brother's, and handed him the tube. He quickly read the label. *Good for humans and youko and certain types of youkai. . .*
"What. . .?"
"Keep reading," Yukina replied, compressing her lips to a thin little line.
Hiei was tugging insistently at Yukina's hand now, and she turned to him, a smile involuntarily crossing her lips as Hiei looked at her with bright, happy eyes. Kurama smiled, too, then turned his attention back to the tube of salve. There, in very fine, small print:
***WARNING!! Absolutely DO NOT use on Koorimes. Causes severe allergic reaction that manifests as a total remission of conscious control of behavior and emotional expression.***
Kurama smacked his forehead. "D'oh!"
* * *
Hiei was skipping alongside him on the sidewalk, singing something under his breath. Kurama didn't know what it was but Hiei had a very good singing voice, and he could occasionally make out the words "love," and "wild wind."
Yukina had bandaged up her brother's arms and whatever else the salve had touched, doing her best to heal the wounds, but gave Kurama a cross-eyed glare, informing him icily that he would just have to tough it out for the salve's effects to wear off.
"Kurama-chan!" Hiei announced, planting himself squarely in the middle of the sidewalk.
"Yes?" Kurama replied warily. He'd learned during the course of the day to suspect any outright requests.
Hiei blinked up at him. "I'm hungry."
"No you're not," he frowned down at the Koorime. "We just ate with Yukina at Genkai's temple." Real food, he added sourly to himself, perhaps impressed upon Hiei by Yukina's good example.
"Yes I am," Hiei contradicted him, raising his eyebrows, then lowering them in a rush as he scowled every bit as darkly as his normal self.
"You can't be!"
"I AM!" Hiei stamped a foot to emphasize his sincerity.
Kurama heaved a sigh. "All right, what do you want?"
"Ramen," Hiei scowled.
"You'd better make this quick," he informed the fire demon as they headed for a nearby ramen restaurant. "'Kaasan will be expecting me home in bed by the time she gets back from work."
"Hn," Hiei sniffed, sounding almost like his normal self.
Kurama was hoping desperately that of all people, they wouldn't encounter Yuusuke and Kuwabara. He knew that this area was their typical hangout when they were ditching school. Which was quite frequently.
"Yoohoo!"
They had barely set foot into the restaurant when a familiar voice hailed them. Kurama restrained a groan, recognizing the voice of Kuwabara Kazuma. Weakly he waved. Kuwabara and Yuusuke were in a booth against the far wall.
Beside him, Hiei's slender dark-garbed body stiffened.
"Uh-oh. . ." So far all of Hiei's behavior seemed to stem from his deep-seated desires, unrestrained by normal conscious control as the warning label had. . .well, warned.
Kurama paused, snatching at a stray thought. Wouldn't that mean he had some sort of desire for. . .
"Omae wa korosu!"
Kurama threw himself desperately after the violent little Koorime who was launching himself across the restaurant; his arms closed around Hiei's calves and he fell flat on his face, clinging grimly and refusing to relinquish his hold. Hiei went down, too, howling.
"Lemme go! I'm gonna kick his ass! He's the Fool who always calls me shrimp and he messes around with Yukina and mmph mrrgh-"
Kurama finally achieved a firm hold on Hiei, clamping a hand on his mouth and throwing an arm around his chest and arms. Hiei squirmed, red eyes flaring at the sight of Kuwabara.
"Sorry guys!" Kurama apologized, backing out of the restaurant hastily with a double armful of Hiei.
He hurried down half a block before Yuusuke caught up with him.
"Kurama, what the hell is going on?" Yuusuke demanded.
Kurama stopped, turned to face him with a wide-eyed innocent stare, and managed a straight-faced, "What?"
Silently Yuusuke pointed to the struggling Hiei in his arms.
Kurama sweatdropped. "Oh, this?" he hedged.
Yuusuke nodded, brown eyes gleaming.
"Um, it's Hiei. Hiei, are you done yet?" he demanded, still not taking his hand off the Koorime's mouth. Sullenly the youkai nodded.
"And I can put you down and you won't try to run and kill Kuwabara?"
There was a longer pause, then Hiei nodded again, reluctantly. Slowly, Kurama set him down. Yuusuke had his hand over his own mouth, sides heaving as he tried to contain his laughter.
"What's going on?" he managed to ask.
Hiei had started his restless jiggling again, eyeing Yuusuke rather indifferently.
"Well," he began uneasily, "there's something wrong with Hiei."
"Kurama-chan!" Hiei wailed, pouting. Yuusuke goggled, using his hands to manually reconnect his jaw. Then he gave up and let it drop as Hiei glomped onto Kurama.
Kurama sweatdropped again, giving Yuusuke an uneasy smile. Then he patted Hiei tentatively as the fire demon snuggled against him, clinging like a burr.
"How can you say that!" Hiei continued, his voice fast pushing on whining. "Nothing wrong with ME."
Kurama sighed and gave up, holding Hiei against him, secretly cherishing the feel of Hiei's body cuddled up against him even as Yuusuke blinked, face-vaulting, the sweatdrop threatening to eclipse his head.
"Well. . .Hiei was hurt, and I helped him out yesterday. . .only it turns out Koorimes have an unusual allergic reaction to the salve that I used. . ."
Yuusuke nodded, eyes brimming with mirth. "What does it do, make him act his age-er, height?"
Hiei growled faintly against his chest but Kurama merely tightened his arms. "Ah. . .actually, it just kind of. . .um, dissolves his conscious control."
Yuusuke eyed them for a long moment, then cracked up. "Hah hah. . .hoo. . .always knew Hiei liked you, Kurama. . ."
"Shut up," Kurama muttered, flushing darkly.
"Is he going to be like this forever?" Yuusuke managed around wheezing chuckles, as Hiei began to start up his hunger chant again, rumbling against Kurama's chest.
"No, thank Inari," Kurama replied gratefully. "Yukina said it should wear off by tomorrow. Hopefully."
"Ah, good. Hope you survive until then!" Yuusuke said flippantly, giving him a jaunty wave before moving off. "I'm glad he went to you and not me!"
"So am I," Kurama murmured once Yuusuke was out of earshot, green eyes darkening a little as he regarded Hiei, who, having exhausted his amazing store of hyperactive energy, had fallen asleep in his arms.
Would Hiei remember his behavior when he snapped out of it? If he did. . . would he be embarrassed and flit away, avoiding him the way he did everything else he might possibly ever care about?
Holding Hiei tightly, knowing the youkai would normally never let him get this close, Kurama carried him all the way home.
--to be continued!--