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Spending so long as a human, Kurama’s come to know and understand the shift in the air of his classroom when there’s news. Being the “popular” student, he’s often kept at an arms length but his hearing and his attention span help with keeping track of the whispering and the rumors spread around him.
Although it meant unnecessary information was being compiled in his head, he couldn’t be caught unawares and stomached the numerous confessions, ill-secrets, snide remarks and all else. Occasionally his gaze would drift to Maya as she talked to her friends, laughing about a show they watched or a place they wanted to go after school.
She would glance his way once or twice when he thought he wasn’t looking and his heart would ache. Despite the way they parted and what he’d done, he couldn’t believe that he was entirely wrong. The number of demons chasing after him and Hiei were growing everyday. It was all they could do to keep Shiori safe let alone some of his classmates who wandered too close to his other life.
Keeping himself adrift from them was important and if that meant being alone throughout the day, then so be it. Hiei was always a thought away and though the fire demon wasn’t always one for conversation, it was nice having that presence at the other end of their connection.
A thread keeping hold of Kurama so he wasn’t drowned by the loneliness gnawing at his resolve.
Kurama rested his chin in hand, staring out the window as his classmates talked and carried on with morning greetings, eventually settling in their seats once the bell rang. Their teacher was the last to walk through but the door was kept ajar, the soft murmuring drawing Kurama’s attention, whispers of someone knew or sighting a person talking to their teacher before class began.
“I hope it’s a girl,” one boy excitedly whispered.
Another sitting in front of him waved his hand, laughing softly. “Won’t help your chances anyway.”
“Another boy would be nice,” a girl a few seats behind Kurama whispered to her friend. “Especially if he’s cute.”
“Doesn’t matter if he’s cute when you can’t do anything but look at him.”
Eyes lingered on Kurama’s back but he didn’t turn or acknowledge them, watching the world outside while his classmates looked him over. From their voices, he could tell who it was speaking about him and remembered the confessions that he turned down. Perhaps there were a few grudges against him even amidst the admiration.
Brushing it aside, he knew at least one thing. There was to be a new student transferring to their class and no one knew who they were. It didn’t matter in the end, it was just another face in the crowd unless they proved to be an enemy. Then it’d be another rumor in the mill.
“Alright, settle down,” their teacher said, the whispers dying down and Kurama’s gaze drifted to the front of the room. “As you all are aware, we’re getting a new transfer student. Come in. ”
The door slid open and a young man walked through. Despite the drape of the sleeves clung to his shoulders and arms, defined muscles outlined by the garment, and although he was small he seemed athletic. Kurama rested his cheek in hand, looking the transfer up and down. His bag shouldered on one arm while he kept his hands in his pockets, gentle dark brown eyes sweeping across the room, lingering on a few faces before moving on as if trying to commit them to memory.
He was cute enough in Kurama’s opinion, had an almost angelic appeal, though that might have been the girls mumbling behind him planting the idea in his head. A ghost of a smile on his lips, dark brown hair falling past his chin, wavy and curling at the ends, half of it drawn back into a ponytail while the rest framed his face. He pulled one of his hands free to pick at his bangs, sweeping a lock behind his ear and tucking it before looking up at their teacher as he addressed him to introduce himself.
“It’s nice to meet you,” he said in a voice soft and melodic, a bit deeper then expected. “My name is Kurosawa Tatsuo.”
The murmuring started up again and Kurama sat up straighter. Something didn’t feel quite right. He narrowed his eyes, ignoring the whispers as he honed in on Kurosawa. The transfer watching the room quietly until their teacher called for everyone to settle down. Schooling his features, Kurama hid his mouth behind his hand though he narrowed his eyes at the transfer student.
“Alright, Kurosawa, your seat will be…” their teacher scanned the room, humming disconcertedly before gesturing to a seat in Kurama’s row. “Behind Kitajima.”
Kurosawa nodded and walked over, smiling politely at Maya as she spoke to him then glancing at Kurama. A flicker of red, so quick that it might have been a trick of the light, appeared then vanished in his eyes. He turned and pulled out his seat, sitting down and setting down his bag. Class began and Maya agreed to share her books with Kurosawa but Kurama couldn’t help but feel off.
Kurosawa didn’t look at him throughout their lesson, absorbed with listening to their teacher and Maya’s direction.The faint whispers around them seemed to go ignored and Kurama wondered if he was simply on edge.
Reaching for his connection to Hiei, Kurama narrowed his eyes at Kurosawa’s back as he turned to glance out the window. There was no glow on his forehead and certainly no third eye opening but the connection opened nonetheless. Out the corner of his eye, Kurosawa looked at him and a smile tugged at his lips.
“Any reason you’re staring at me, Minamino?”
The deep timbre of Hiei’s voice echoed in his mind and Kurama stifled a snort, burying his face in his hand, his shoulders trembling. It wouldn’t bode well if he was caught laughing in the middle of a lecture but he couldn’t believe it. Kurosawa — Hiei — whichever, looked ahead as Maya turned the page in their shared textbook and Kurama followed suit. Keeping up appearances as the two talked.
“How long have you been planning this?”
Hiei’s control over the Jagan was steadily growing and while Kurama was interested in his capabilities, this seemed like over-exertion. It was one thing for Kurama to hide in plain sight with a human body but Hiei was a demon through and through. Yet, he couldn’t feel his youki when he stepped into the room. Even his voice was different. And there were too many scents in the room to pick up Hiei’s own. To what length did he go for this?
“Long enough for it to pay off.” Hiei seemed smug, pleased with himself for being able to mystify Kurama. And Kurama had to admit that he was impressed. “You didn’t think I was learning with you for my own amusement, did you?”
Kurama’s mind wandered to the evenings spent at his desk where they would pour over his textbooks. Hiei helping him study or reading some of them on his own. He didn’t seem wholly interested in the exercises but he corrected Kurama’s mistakes and pointed out a few inaccuracies when he felt the need.
Looking down at his textbook, Kurama huffed and ran his fingers over the pages, remembering where Hiei pointed and the words he said in the confines of Kurama’s bedroom or between their lips.
“I always assume you have a reason for what you do.”
“Then what do you think the reason for this is?”
Kurama wracked his brain. There were plenty of reasons in itself but he knew HIei’s preferences. He’d grown past looking down on humans for most things but pretending to be one of them never seemed to be in his interests. And he only ever pushed himself to certain lengths when it was necessary. If anything, he seemed to hate hiding who he was more than anything else but he was terrifying to some — especially the demons that wandered their territory.
“Trouble in the area…” Kurama summarized, glancing out the window as he wondered how close some of their potential enemies might be for Hiei to go to this length. Letting the thought drift aside, he glanced at Hiei’s back and smirked. “Or you missed me.”
He wasn’t sure what expression Hiei made but Maya didn’t seem to notice anything off. A slight twitch in Hiei’s shoulder telling of his attempt to keep from tensing up. It wouldn’t do good for Kurosawa Tatsuo to be uncomfortable after all. Kurama resisted the urge to smile and glanced down at his textbook.
After a short pause, Hiei spoke again in a tight voice. “There have been demons lurking nearby and hiding as a human makes it easier to find them or at least trap them.”
Kurama’s soft hum carried over their connection and he could practically hear Hiei’s budding irritation at his skepticism. While he was sure that Hiei wanted to keep his end of their deal, they certainly had grown past that.
“Well, when you aren’t working. Are you going to allow me to kiss you here, Kurosawa?”
Hiei’s shoulders bunched up as he shot upright. Maya looking at him curiously, her eyes wide and Kurama had to hide his laughter behind his hand.
“Did I say something?” Maya whispered, concern in her eyes as she looked Hiei over.
Slipping back into the tone of Kurosawa Tatsuo, Hiei shook his head. “Sorry, I… wasn’t paying attention.”
“Spacing out already?” Maya teased, nudging the book closer to him.
“A little.”
Kurama could imagine Hiei rounding on him with dark eyes narrowed with the solemn promise of revenge. The press of his youki was faint, likely to keep up his rouse, but with the same pressure as a nudge to Kurama’s side.
“Don’t you have a certain reputation here, Minamino,” Hiei shot back, matching Kurama’s teasing tone with the same intensity that reminded him of the games they played in private. “Kissing someone you hardly know doesn’t seem to fit into that.”
Kurama’s lilting hum echoed in their shared space. He found Kurosawa Tatsuo attractive with his power rippling beneath a gentle demeanor, like a river with hidden depths that most dared not to brave. But if Hiei wished to play the role, Kurama was happy enough to oblige. This was a persona that he wanted to know more of.
“They hardly know of me outside of what I allow them to see. It wouldn’t be so strange for me to have a partner they aren’t aware of.”
He knew it was dangerous to say. But to leave the door open was all he could do. Forcing Hiei through it, attempting to coax or change what was already set in his mind, would only push him away when Kurama wanted to bring him closer. His two lives were split and Hiei, while part of one, wasn’t fully present in it. There was something appealing about the idea of going to school with him, of having him there by his side, through the day and the night.
Whether he was human or demon.
“You’re thinking of something unnecessary, Kurama,” Hiei says, breaking Kurama from his thoughts with a harsh tug as if they were standing beside one another and he was trying to bring Kurama to his side. Fondness, appreciation, an overwhelming weight of emotions crossing over as he gave a gentle squeeze to hold onto the invisible hand Hiei grasped his own with.
“Do I have your attention now?”
“Always.”
Hiei glanced over his shoulder, allowing the connection to widen, his own emotions flowing through. His acknowledgement that they were together, his happiness that others knew of them, the enticing appeal of being to be with Kurama in this way as he was in others.
Warmth and joy flooding through, the gentle squeeze alleviating, the feeling of Hiei’s arms around him, hugging him tightly in its place. Despite sitting in the desk in front of him, listening to their teacher’s lecture, Hiei was right by his side where he wanted to be. And if not for keeping appearances, Kurama might have hugged him.
“So, Is this your way of saying you want to date me, Shuuichi?” Hiei asks, slipping into a playful tone as his mental hold on Kurama eased.
Kurama’s heart skipped a beat hearing those words from him and the corner of his lips twitched slightly. “…If you would have me, Tatsuo.”
“Then you’ll be my guide around school. I’m counting on you.”
And for once in a fairly long time, Kurama was excited to see the school day through.