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Hmm...roach sneeze challenged(or rather, nagged) me to write something with a romantic relationship between Hiei and Kurama, but I'm not going to write the sort of thing sneezy is expecting... So, what do you think?

Hiei and Kurama are products of Yoshihiro Togashi's imagination.

Sonnet 20 is from William Shakespeare(poor guy, his work is getting a lot of abuse of late...)

By qwertyuiop

Where had Kurama gone? It was the second time this week the fox had missed dinner, and usually he treasured any time he could spend with his short-lived human mother. Hiei slipped in the open window (very careless, he'd have to have a few words with Kurama about this when, if he came back) to wait.

Too long, he thought, since the two of them had any time together. What in the three realms was Kurama busy with? His eyes fell on a book left facedown on the table, evidently abandoned in some haste, since the fox usually loved books too much to mistreat them, or so he claimed.

Hiei snorted skeptically as he turned the book over gingerly to see what Kurama had been reading. Kurama had also claimed that he loved Hiei too much to not tease him.

It was in English, which he could read, albeit with some difficulty. The arrangement of the lines told him it was probably poetry of some sort. A waste of time then, he thought dismissively, about to turn it back over, until the meaning of the opening lines sank in. Frowning, he lifted the book for a closer look.

The language was a little strange, but not incomprehensible. However, it was not what had captured his attention. Oddly enough, the poem seemed almost to be addressed to Kurama. Hiei's frown deepened. Did he have a rival? Was that the reason for Kurama's frequent absences of late?

Stupid, he berated himself mentally. All I have to do is check. He was reluctant to spy on Kurama like some love-struck idiot, however.

He glared at the offending poem. Whoever wrote it seemed to have quite intimate knowledge of Kurama. He might have written something much like it himself, if he was given to versification.

Almost more people than he could count had proved that by mistaking Kurama for a woman despite his figure and dress. And it was "with Nature's own hand painted," since the fox didn't pay much attention to his looks beyond the care he took with his clothes. His hair tended to stick out every which way, like Yukina's had until the Kuwabara household took her in hand.

Hiei's grip on his sword tightened as he read. This was something Kurama's enemies would disagree with. Kurama might seem a cruel and unpredictable enemy, but his motivations were exceedingly simple and unchangeable, even more so than Hiei's. To protect his loved ones at whatever cost.

Well...when he wasn't annoyed or teasing, his regard was rather flattering. But Hiei found himself wondering if the unknown poet had ever experienced those other aspects.

Hiei was starting to get very irked with himself. The fox, whether because or in spite of his self-control, had stolen more than Hiei's eyes. As for women, one only had to look at the size of his fanclub...

This point was questionable. No one knew the gender of the child Kurama had displaced, but considering his looks, it was not implausible. But it had not been Nature which had made him male.

Hiei smirked: apparently the poet had given Kurama up for lost...he didn't have any such prejudices to deter him, though.

Or maybe not. Even if the poet had no designs on Kurama's body, Hiei had no intention of sharing the fox's affections any more than he already was. It was hard enough competing with Shiori, but she was already more than halfway through with her life(unless Kurama went and wished for another extension). If the poet was a schoolmate(Hiei really hated that term), he would have a much longer life expectancy than Shiori. Hiei had every intention of shortening it if Kurama reciprocated his feelings.

With that resolve made, Hiei felt much better, and looked for clues to the poet's identity. "William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616," he read aloud. Ah, much better. Whether the poet had been speaking of Kurama or not was now irrelevant, since he was already dead, and without needing any help!

Hiei's smirk widened as an idea entered his mind. Well, Kurama often complained that he was unromantic, and if by being romantic he meant flowers and poetry...He had noted that the poem accurately reflected for the most part what he thought of the fox, so if one deleted the inappropriate parts...

"That dumb project is finished at last," sighed Kurama as he came in and flopped heavily onto the bed. He turned a quizzical eye on Hiei, who was concentrating very hard on, of all things, his book of English sonnets.

"Hiei? I thought you didn't like poems?" The fire demon ignored him and made a note with a pen.

"What in the Ningenkai are you reading that's so interesting?" Pulling himself wearily out of bed, he went to look over Hiei's shoulder.