Standard disclaimers apply. Yoshihiro Togashi created these and I just had too much of it to think that I decided to write this out! In Kuwabara’s point of view! This is the first Kuwabara POV fic I’ve done. So excuse me… ^_^ I’m still new… yaoi? Umm… not in this fic. A fanfic by ~> Bulma Briefs ************* I’ll Always Be By Your Side (Kuwabara’s P.O.V) I had been harshly woken by a phone call in the middle of the morning. It’s a damn Saturday and I’m suppose to be in good warmth of the bed for another half and hour. Must be Yuusuke. He’ll never let anyone be in peace. I reached lazily to the phone and was preparing to curse the one on the other side of the line for waking me up. "What!" I answered, which I thought I sounded like I wanted to eat the phone. Not giving a chance for the other side to say hello or even introduce itself. "Ano, gomen yo…" I heard a soft voice apologising from the other side. It was non other than my friend Kurama… and not Yuusuke. Thank god I didn’t start my conversations with curses. I scratched my head and straightened up. "Oh, never mind. I thought it was Yuusuke," I mumbled, my voice heavy of sleep. "Sorry to wake you up. But Koenma… *yawn* told Yuusuke that we were to be in the Reikai Palace by noon," he told me, I could hear clearly that his voice was also muffled by stifling sleepy yawns. "Umm… what time Yuusuke wants us to gather in the park?" I asked, that’s where we always gather before entering the portal to Reikai. "I think in half an hours time," said Kurama. But then, I heard something. Before I could ask Kurama what or who was it, he told me to hold on. "Kuwabara, can you hold on a minute?" he asked. I nodded. "Yeah, sure," I uttered. I heard clearly what was happening over there. A deep voice was asking Kurama something. About where Kurama kept his black trousers. I assured myself, it was definitely Hiei. I could hear Kurama telling him that it was behind the bed-stand. Now, how did Hiei's trousers got there? Kurama came back to the phone. "Gomen. So Kuwabara, we’ll meet you there okay?" said the soft voice. "Um, Yeah… okay," I answered. "Hey, is it Hiei over there?" my mouthed suddenly blurted out of curiosity, even though I knew it was definitely him. "Er… umm… yeah," Kurama answered. I affirmed myself that he was blushing over there. I let out a friendly playful chuckle. "What? What, Kuwabara?" I could hear his voice, panic. I shook my head. "Nothing," but my voice didn’t sound like it was nothing. Then I heard some sound over there. "Hiei… no Hiei! Hiei! Wait!" I could hear the redhead shout. "Hello," a different voice which was a total opposite from the voice before was now talking on the phone. I gulped, but tried to stay cool. "Hi, Hiei!" I greeted the runt, readying myself to blow him into bits in the phone. Muahahaha! I always have plans to irritate him, I don’t know why. Maybe he just looks… cute being irritated. Then, the other side of the phone was hung. And I didn’t even got the chance to annoy the boy. I shrugged and I slumped back the phone in it’s place, sinking my head heavily on my pillow. Breathing hard on it once before getting up. Ready for another day. I cleaned and got myself dressed. Went into the kitchen to find neesan already serving breakfast. "I thought you’d be asleep for another good hour?" she commented. "Kurama called up," I told her, taking a piece of bread slapping jam lazily on it. She raised and eyebrow. "Kurama? Why would he call you up in the early morning?" she asked. "Yuusuke told him to. That jerk knew if he called me up himself, he’ll get a line of curses set for him," I mumbled, munching on the bread. I could hear her sigh. "Kurama… too bad Hiei got him. Or I’ll sure make a move on him," she tried a lame joke, sitting opposite to me. Or that’s what it seems to me. Shizuru and Kurama? I’ll die of laughter if I have to live with it. But then a thought struck me. How did she knew about Hiei and Kurama? Even I was having a hard time to assure myself with enough proof that Kurama really likes Hiei and the other way around. Anyway, she did have more psychic powers than I do… but… My mouth opened before my brain could stop it. "You knew?" I blurted out, almost spitting out some of the jam on her face. She wrinkled her nose at me and took the kitchen towel, wiping the table on the spot in front of us. Most probably where I sprayed some of the jam. She let out a small laugh. "Have you ever seen this soft kind of aura near Kurama and Hiei when they’re around each other? It used to be that only Kurama has it. Now, if you look closely at Hiei you can see the same thing being emitted by him beyond those dark youki barriers," said Shizuru, stirring her coffee slowly. I frowned. I never really spend too much time concentrating at that little runt. He’s always getting on my nerves. But Kurama… "I’m not sure if what I saw was really that aura you were talking about. But if that’s what it means… I think I had," I told her. She nodded. "Wonder if they’d actually slept together?" she asked casually, practically to herself. "Ne, neesan! Etchi!" I threw the kitchen towel at her. But then something triggered a switch in my head. Once again, my mouth took control of the situation. "You know what, neesan?" I asked her. "What?" she put the towel down. "When Kurama was talking to me in the phone just now, guess who else was in his room?" I’m making her play my guessing games. She gave me a frown, as if she was really thinking. "Kare no kaasan ka?" she guessed. I mocked her. "Nope. It’s Hiei," I told her, sipping my coffee. Her eyes suddenly glinted. I don’t know out of surprise or excitement. "Honto ka?" she asked. I nodded. "And he was asking Kurama where his black trousers were. You know, the ones he usually wear. And guess what Kurama told him," I lifted the corner of my mouth. "What? In the washing machine?" she guessed. "Nope, wrong again. He told Hiei that his trousers were behind the bed-stand. Now, how did that get there…?" I trailed off. She laughed. "I knew it! I knew it that you’re a pervert!" she slapped the table and then, me. Ouch, that really hurts. "It takes one, to know one," I rolled my eyes at her. ************ 9.00 am… I’m sitting alone here, in the park, under a shady tree. I gritted my teeth. No one was here yet! But I’m sure that Yuusuke was always the last to come. He’ll tell us to come at some point of time and he’ll arrive about half an hour later. Now, even Kurama was late! I wonder what’s happening around. My eyes drifted past the other park benches and spotted two familiar figures. Kurama and Hiei. As they came closer, I could see the glint in the redhead’s eyes. I concentrated a bit and yes, now I’m sure I saw the aura that neesan was talking about. Kurama was laughing in his own unique delicate way about something Hiei said. Yet the other one was only setting a ‘I-don’t-care’ face walking around with it. Come to think of it, Hiei actually looks kind of cute. But maybe there’s something more that Kurama sees in him. And I assure you, I won’t know. Recently, they spent time together a lot more often. More often than usual. If you understand that little runt, he won’t be too bad. Or so that’s what Kurama told me, but I couldn’t seem to bring myself to ‘understand’ Hiei. My thoughts drifted towards Kurama’s story, when once he tried to make us understand Hiei. He told us about Hiei, being a forbidden child, thrown out of his clan since he was born. Raised without knowing what’s childhood and never had parents and all… maybe that’ll do that to you. I can’t imagine myself living without my parents when I was small. I feel pity for him. Maybe it was pity that Kurama felt for the koorime? Nah, it’s not pity. It’s those pure feelings that I won’t come to believe it myself. It’s a feeling called love… I was kicked out of my thoughts when I heard a giggle. Albeit a soft one, I felt like I was mocked. "What?" I demanded. Kurama shook his head. A snort was delivered to me from the spiky haired koorime. "Hell knows what you’re thinking, but there’s a bird making a nest on your head," he told me dryly. And trust me, I feel like punching him right on the nose. But I don’t want Kurama to hate me. I reached up and I heard a panicked chirp. Okay, that was definitely a bird. And there were a few twigs and dry leaves on my head. Damn that bird! I seat here for merely 5 minutes and it’s going to make a nest on me? Huh! Spring! "Where’s Yuusuke?" asked Kurama, looking around. "He’ll come later," I muttered. The corner of Kurama’s mouth lifted in a small smile and he settled down next to me. I eyed him. He’s a real beauty. Trust me. I was quite disappointed that he’s going for guys but that’s okay, I guess. Then, there was a propulsion next to me. Oh, Hiei had squeezed between me and Kurama on the bench. Sorry Hiei. Maybe he saw me ‘stared’ at his fox and didn’t liked it that much. Couldn’t blame him. He was just being protective. Hey, who wouldn’t? When you’re lover is either a handsome fox spirit with long silver hair or a 17 year old bishounen with luxurious red hair or even both in this case, I’m sure you’ll act the same way too. I heard Kurama suppress a small chuckle. He was teasing Hiei about how big his ass were and the bench was going to fall apart. I too, laughed at that statement. And there, I saw Hiei's face turn red. In anger or in embarrassment, I don’t know. But what I’m sure was Kurama was going to get it. "I’m not going to talk to you," suddenly Hiei uttered, looking away from Kurama. His back, leaning on the bench and his arms crossed on his chest under that cloak. Kurama leaned over Hiei and cooed him. I can’t hear what he was saying. But it’s some cooing funny sound. I’m sure it’s a private thing they share. I could see Hiei's face turn redder as Kurama made these adorable cooing sounds. Hey, what am I saying here? The next thing I knew when I glance back at them, you know what they were doing? They were actually kissing! Shit! At one glance, maybe you see that it was just a normal girl kissing a guy. On second glance. A girl kissing a small boy. But if you look really close, you can see a very ‘pretty’ young boy kissing his best friend and lover, who’s also happened to be a boy. I don’t know why, but my body felt uncomfortable. I stood up and I could feel them parting themselves. Good. They should know that they’re not suppose to kiss another guy in public. Hey, what am I saying? I was the one who practically helped them out. Yuusuke finally arrived with Botan. I was about to tell him off that he’s not suppose to come this late when Kurama spoke first. "Was Koenma feeling better?" Uh? That struck me. Was the little Prince of Death sick? "Yeah, though he needed a lot of aspirin," said Botan and started to crack up with Yuusuke. Kurama was slightly smiling and Hiei was only smirking. And what was I doing? Looking like a lost frog. "Hey! What’re you guys talking about?" I demanded. "Koenma was accused for loosing one of the Reikai documents, so he was punished. He was tied to a big fan and was turned around until he couldn’t identify which was up and down. But after it was finished, they found the document somewhere and Koenma was punished for nothing," cracked Botan. Um, this was actually funny! I laughed. I laughed when everyone had subsided and they set their eyes on me. I tried to stop myself from laughing some more. Hiei might tease me or something and I’m sure that’ll turn out to be a fight. We made our way to Reikai and on the way there, I keep turning back. Why? I don’t know myself. But there’s this urge that told me to look back. To see the two wonderful boys behind me. Sometimes talking seriously to each other, sometimes chuckling. I’m starting to think that I’m jealous. Was it that I feel? Or was it something else… At the same time, I felt happy. Happy to be around happy people. Happy to be around a sacred thing called love. A simple four letter word yet with complex meanings and powers that could even do such things as turn your life around. Hiei was a good example… Behind me, a tall boy was slumping his arm on the other one. Obviously they care nothing about the world but each other. Sometimes it made me cry. Kurama sometimes could be so emotional. Especially after that little runt released the Kokuryuuha. He’ll rush over to the weak koorime and support him, despite all of us looking. He’ll rewrap the bandage in the way that no one but only he and Hiei knows. And the expression on his face. It was like he’s fighting for the boy’s life, even though he was only sleeping. Always worrying for nothing, this Kurama. He’ll set his face tight in a frown and actually seat next to Hiei, waiting for him to wake up. Normally, a novel or a book about botany would accompany him. But when Hiei woke up… The surrounding place was almost lighten up alive. Rejuvenated. His frown would suddenly turn into a warm smile that’s as welcoming as sunrise. And his emerald gems would sparkle like stars. He’ll shut the book and ask with a concerning voice. :… "Are you okay?" …: Hiei was one lucky boy. And he better appreciate it. I suddenly bumped into something. Yuusuke’s back. We had reached the Reikai Palace. "Oi!" Yuusuke shouted. In Koenma’s room, I could see he was still having stars flying around. Suddenly I felt pity for the Prince of Death. His face was still tear struck. Koenma was just telling us about a new youkai that would most probably cause trouble. But for now, we all would be in a ready mode. ************ Monday; a typical school day. I go to school, I’ll cut the second half of it and return just 5 minutes before it ends. Today wasn’t such a good day. Our class was detained for detention. Why? Well, we all were reported to be the most noisiest class in the school and the principle decided to hold all of us for a detention. Doing what? Nothing. Except of course, make more noise. After it ends, I and Yuusuke walked out of our class. Surprisingly, two familiar figures were waiting for us under a tree near the school gate. Kurama in his pink school uniform and Hiei, in some normal clothing. When I said normal, it means he’s wearing some other things than his usual black cloak. Kurama saw us and waved. I and Yuusuke rushed to their direction. "What’s wrong Kurama?" I asked, hoping that nothing was going wrong. I glanced over at Yuusuke and saw that he too, had the same expression as I did. Kurama shook his head. "I thought you guys might have any thing about that either," said Kurama, a smile was on his face. Then there were shrieks behind us. "Ahh!! Minamino-san!" Yuusuke and I turned around and saw a few girls from our class smiling like idiots at Kurama. Kurama replied with a warm smile which he gave to everyone and bowed slightly. "Yes?" he asked. The girls whispered to each other and giggled. "What are you doing here?" one of them asked. "I’m just visiting Urameshi and Kuwabara," he answered. Accidentally I glanced over to Hiei. I blinked. Boy, was he angry or what? He rolled his eyes and turned around. Maybe he was jealous? The girls were having small talks with Kurama. Now everyone knows that Hiei was angry. How? He took off. We couldn’t do anything to stop him, especially me. I tapped Kurama’s shoulder and he turned to look at me. "Hiei left," Yuusuke told him. Kurama blinked. "Honto ka?" he began uttering a few excuses to the girls and took off as well. "What’s the matter?" the girls asked us. "He’s in trouble," I and Yuusuke answered simultaneously. Those girl blinked, blur at our statement. Well, we won’t wait around and let them bug us with questions about Kurama anymore. We took off too! "Wonder what’ll Kurama do??" Yuusuke asked me. I shrugged. "Hiei is not like you and me. So, just think about the things that won’t be done to us," I told Yuusuke and head my own way home. But I wouldn’t worry about them. They were made for each other. From the first time I saw them. From the first time Hiei hand hinted us that he like Kurama. I smiled to myself. It was our first time on a mission as Reikai Tanteis and Kurama was about to fight a Makai creature named Genbu. I was so worried. How could a soft decent guy like him fight something so hideous like that? That smirk on Kurama’s face when he said :… "Anyway, I can’t let Hiei show his talents all the time," …: Then, the grumpy runt answered. :… "Bullshit," …: that was really harsh, but Kurama took it happily as if it was a compliment. We were so panicked. Kurama was really going to fight that hideous demon which was about 5 times bigger than him. "Ah! This is too dangerous! Won’t it be better if we just find another way to sneak our way upstairs?" Yuusuke’s voice cracked out of fear. I remembered Hiei's exact words. "You’re worrying because you don’t know Kurama’s real power!" He was actually praising someone! "Let me tell you why I wanted to join him. It’s because I don’t want to be enemies with him… It’s because I won’t betray him," I could hear him trail off. Barely audible. I can catch the exact meanings of the words. Hiei was actually trying to tell us that he won’t betray the love Kurama was to give him. That’s why he would always be by his side and trust his every doings. Sometimes, people could be so in love… Anyway, I’ll give them 2 days the most. I’ll bet that in two days time or less, I’ll be seeing my two alleys walking together again. Maybe hand in hand. Maybe sharing secret giggles that no one other than them knew. Maybe sharing ice-creams. Either way, I’m sure. I’m sure that the phrase ‘I’ll always be by your side no matter what happens’ will be alive again. Hiei and Kurama, may all the gods in the three worlds bless you two with happiness. ************ Two days later… I, Yuusuke, Hiei and Kurama. Typical of us to hang around in my room. A nice Wednesday afternoon for me. But… there’s something in my room that’s not complete. Let me tell you… Kurama and Hiei hadn’t make out. Hiei was merely sitting on the window sill, looking outside. Giving in his opinion every now and then. Kurama, sitting next to me on my bed also giving in for opinions every now and then. It was when Yuusuke was on a topic about love that both of them snapped up. "And… I think love is something sincere," Yuusuke decided. A grunt was heard. "Yeah, not like some people who would just seduce anyone," that was from Hiei. And everyone in the room could clearly see that it was directed right on Kurama. A sarcastic remark. Not a pleasant one either. Kurama bit his lips. "I know what you mean… but… It’s not really ones fault. Just trying not to be rude and was accused to be infidel by another? It doesn’t make sense," Kurama was retorting in his own way. Hiei gave way to a snort. "I know some people like that. They’ll eventually grow to actually sleep with everyone," Well, that was harsh. Hiei, I really wished you hadn’t said that. "They won’t," Kurama started to raise his voice, but still in control. "Cheh! Let me remind you that saying ‘no’ is rude," said Hiei. "That depends on how you say it," Kurama’s voice was now low. "Oh, shut up! Just… just let everyone in this room know that you’ll give yourself to anyone, okay? I’ve had enough of it!" Hiei blurted out. "Hiei…," Kurama trailed off. There was a pause. Even Yuusuke and I. We understood that if we budge in now, we’ll have to pay a great cost. So we kept our opinions to ourselves first and see… Kurama stood up. Every eye was on him as he ran into my bathroom. Shutting the door behind it with a slam. Now we talk… "Hiei, don’t you think that was too harsh?" I asked. Hiei eyed me, his usually big almond eyes were now slanted and annoyed. Help! Yuusuke finally spoke. "Hiei, Kurama didn’t mean to hurt you. And I know for sure you’re just making false assumptions," Yuusuke said. Hiei just rolled his eyes. I went up to him. Sometimes I can’t stand him! I grabbed his shoulders and shouted right in his face. "Hiei, Kurama needs you. He’ll fall apart without you. I’m begging you, please…," I can’t believe that I’m actually begging this brat for something. "But…," he tried to retort. "Not buts Hiei. I know you have your ego. But sometimes, you have to be lenient with some things. You do realise that Kurama’s in there crying for you, right?" asked Yuusuke. Hiei sighed. Maybe something triggered inside his tiny brain up there. He let go of my grip on his collar and made his way step by step to the toilet. He opened it and pushed it behind him. The door wasn’t really shut. It was ajar. Good. I sneaked over to it and tried to eavesdrop. Yuusuke followed suit. Actually, silence was in the bathroom. I’m starting to wonder what’s happening inside there. Then, someone spoke. "I’m sorry…," it was Hiei's low voice. But there was no response from Kurama. Just stifling sniffles. I don’t know. But I think now Kurama was crying on Hiei's body. His crying sounds were now different, muffled. Maybe by Hiei's clothes. I smiled. They finally made it clear to each other. I heard Hiei said something more, but I couldn’t care less. Yuusuke was still eavesdropping and I decided I wanted fresh air to pour in. I opened the window and breathed in the air. Love, a small word with such power… I wonder… Owari… Remember I told you about this fic that doesn’t have yaoi in it? Muahahaha! I lied. Even in the URL. Boy am I smart or what? Hehehe… anyone who knows me would surely know that I’m a yaoi writer. Hehehe… C&C… Bulma Briefs bulma_v_briefs@hotmail.com UIN# 13254597 https://members.tripod.com/~Bulma_Briefs/manga_mansion.html