Author's Note: I don't usually like to put notes in here, but I wanted to apologize for any times I take these characters out of character. My goal with this isn't really to keep them in character. I also should say that (obviously, which is why I almost never put a disclaimer for a fan fic/fan art based off of a very well know characters) these are not my characters. One last thing, this is dedicated to a friend of mine (Rowan Amai-Uta Kurama) from the Kurama is Hiei's bitch guild on Gaia. I hope she enjoys this even though I got it posted a bit late for V-day.

Chocolate Box

By Murai

With a yawn and stretch, the red haired Kurama tried to rid himself of his last visages of sleep. The attempt failed. Kurama really just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. He wasn't truly tired; he just was having a good dream about a certain dark haired pyromaniac. He sighed and got out of bed. Koenma wanted Yusuke and company to meet with him first thing today; and with this request in mind, Kurama went about his morning routine and found himself pondering a problem that had been plaguing him for several days. Valentines Day was coming up, and he had no idea what to get for Hiei. Of course, aside from the problem of deciding what to get the fire yokai was the problem of deciding how to give it to Hiei. Kurama figured that if he out right handed the gift to the sword-slinging demon, he would flat out refuse it. The fox spirit needed to come up with a subtle plan, but said plan escaped him. The ex-thief let out a sigh, finished his morning activities, and set off to the world of the afterlife.

Once at Koenma's palace, Kurama sought out his ever angsty former thieving comrade. Hiei was standing at the back of the group with his arms crossed and glaring. Kuwabara was there and was pointedly ignoring the fire demon. Looking around, Kurama noticed with some slight surprise that Yusuke was actually on time. A bit hurt that he was the last to arrive, Kurama headed over to Hiei and stood next to him. Hiei spared the red haired fox incarnate a quick glance, and continued his brooding. Kurama smiled and laughed to himself. Before his thoughts could dwell on his slight obsession, Koenma began his explanation for calling the meeting.

"Now that you are all here, I'll fill you in on my newest emergency." Enma's heir began. "As you all should know, Valentines Day is coming up." Several in the group arched and eyebrow at this seemingly unimportant fact, and Hiei, Kurama noted with both mirth and surprise, looked slightly confused, but the dark haired boy hid fairly it well. "You all should also know that chocolates and gifts of various kinds are given to people. Some countries only give chocolate, some give just about anything, and in some parts of the world it's traditional for girls to give stuff to boys where as other countries the gift giving is between close friends and couples. With this in mind, I have a rather large crisis; I need a gift for a certain girl I know. Your mission is to find one for me." Koenma finished with a dramatic finger point at the group.

"Whaaat! You called us here first thing in the morning to have us do your Valentines day shopping!" A rather miffed Yusuke asked.

"Yes, you have two days 'till Valentines Day, so hurry up." Koenma commanded with a wave of his hand and a slight urgency in his voice. With a few sighs and grunts, the group grudgingly headed out.

Once in the world of the living, Yusuke began a tirade of curses and reasons why they should not have to do Koenma's Valentines Day shopping. Kuwabara kept muttering about what a great idea Valentines shopping would be, and muttered something concerning what he should get for his ice demon crush. Botan was rallying Yusuke's complaints with how cute it was to be Valentines Day shopping. Hiei wasn't saying anything, but it was obvious he was trying to decide what to make of the whole Valentines Day thing. Kurama was laughing to himself and beginning to think up a plan for how to get a gift to Hiei.

"Well, we have two days to do the shopping, so how about for today, we split up and do some looking. Tomorrow we can meet up when Yusuke and Kuwabara get out of school. If we haven't found anything by then, we could all go as a group and just pick something." Kurama suggested to the group. Hiei gave him a speculative look, but kept his mouth shut.

Hiei let out a sigh as he and Kurama left the second shop in their mission to finding the perfect gift for Koenma's present. Why the hell was he, a demon, looking around the human world for useless junk? Worst of all he was paired off with Kurama. After Kurama had suggested that the group split up, Kuwabara volentered to go off by himself. Hiei had a sneaking suspicion that the sword creating block head was looking for a gift that would impress Yukina. Botan had insisted that she run off with Yusuke to keep him out of trouble. That left him and Kurama. He couldn't say exactly how, but he knew that the fox had planned the whole thing out. The red haired fox boy wasn't bad company or anything; it was just that lately Hiei had started feeling uncomfortable around him. Recently Kurama had been giving him strange thoughtfull looks that unsettled the fire yokai.

After they had split up, Kurama had insisted upon dragging him to a flower shop. Mostly what they looked at were bouquets of roses. Hiei didn't mind roses; in fact he found them rather pretty. The only problem he had with them was that every time he looked at a red rose he would get this funny picture of Kurama wielding his rose whip on him; and not in an angry or vengeful way. The thought unnerved him. Once the red head had tired of the flower shop, he had dragged Hiei to a candle store. That was a bit more to the pyro's liking. However, he couldn't figure out why many of the candles had scents to them. Trust humans to come up with something stupid and completely pointless.

"Lets see, where should we head off to next?" Kurama half asked to himself.

"Home." Hiei gruffly responded to Kurama's question.

"Oh? You're not having fun? I guress we could go home….." Kurama trailed off with that look. Hiei was beginning to recocnize that look more and more often, and it sent a peculiar tingle up his spine. Part of him hated that look, and part of him longed for it.

Hiei gave a slightly uncomfortable 'hn' then started walking down the street. He heard Kurama let out a barely audible sigh and heard the rose wielding boy's light steps. If Kurama really wanted him to do something the red head just had to say it. The fire yokai didn't know exactly why, but he would always obey Kurama. Perhaps some of Yoko still seeped through Kurama's human exterior. Few could disobey the silver fox's wishes and the trait seemed to carry over to his incarnation.

"Ah, I know of a place we can go." Kurama informed Hiei as he took the lead. Hiei obediently fell in behind the boy.

Kurama walked down the streets with Hiei in tow until they came to a new store called 'Hallmark'. The store was American based, but it supposedly catered to all gifts. If their commercials believable, one could find a gift for any occasion. Just the place to find a gift for Hiei and the girl Koenma insisted upon giving a gift to. Kurama steped in the door, and turned to see Hiei's reaction. As the fox yokai had thought, the sword wielding fire demon's expression was priceless. He looked at the store as if it would give him a disease. True, it had a rather feminine air to it, but it did seem to possibly have what they were looking for. Racks of cards, chocolates, toys, and various other trinkets filled the inside of the shop.

The two yokai, much to Hiei's growing irritation, spent hours in the store looking at various objects. Kurama noted with some exasperation, that Hiei wasn't interested in anything except the candies. A box of chocolate seemed a little to plain for a Valentines gift. Defeated, the ex-thief sighed. "I know of one other place to check, and then I suppose we might as well call it a day." Hiei seemed to prick up at these words. With Hiei in tow, Kurama left the store. It was time for a last resort. Kurama would just have to take the pyromaniac to The Candy Lady. Chocolate really seemed like a dull gift, but The Candy Lady was a store literally filled with every kind of chocolate imaginable.

Again led by the red haired fox boy, Hiei continued his search for a gift. Gift hunting was bad enough, but that last store was almost the last straw. He would have left the Hallmark and abandoned the mission if it weren't for the intense look Kurama had. Something about that look said that if he left, he'd have to face a not so happy silver haired fox. Kurama scared Hiei, but Yoko was worse. It wasn't a fear like the fear one has from a nightmare, but more of a vauge felling of uneasiness. The three eyed demon could swear that Yoko often looked at him with an almost hungry look. Hiei finally sighed and put his arms behind his head. Deciding not to follow his thoughts any further, he resigned himself to his fate of walking with the ex-thief. As he glanced around the streets he noticed that they were in a bit of a run down part of town. Hiei began to wonder what store they were looking for. The area was a bit shabby and didn't seem like a good place to find a gift.

"Ah, here it is." Kurama said with a veiled enthusiasm that Hiei had learned to recognize. The shop was small, but much better kept than the buildings around it. He looked up at the sign above the door. In a bold script it read 'The Candy Lady'. Hiei slightly narrowed his eyes. He could actually feel that Kurama had an ulterior motive in bringing him here. He hesitantly followed the fox into the store. It was always hard to tell what his red haired companion was thinking, and that was a little unsettling.

Once in the store, Hiei began to forget his worries and indulge in the sight before him. The store was filled with chocolates. This was by far the best store Kurama had brought him too. There were candies of all shapes, sizes, and flavors, but what caught the sword-slinging demon's eye most was a box of rose shaped chocolates. They reminded the boy of Kurama. Unlike the red roses that he always saw, these reminded the fire yokai of a sweeter softer side of the thought provoking red head.

Kurama the ever watchfull, noticed Hiei's enjoyment of the sight of a box of rose shaped chocolates. The fox was a bit surprised that such a thing would catch his obsession's eye. Perhaps the owner of the store would be willing to make a custom batch for him. He wondered if he could get the owner and maker of the chocolates to paint the roses with red and green icing. That would make them much more than plain old chocolates. With this idea in mind, he approached the woman behind the counter and asked her if she would make the chocolates to his request. The woman nodded with an understanding smirk.

Finished with his negotiations, Kurama walked over to Hiei, "I think we should bring the others here tomorrow. As a group we might decide on the best thing to get." Hiei 'hn'ed at Kurama's suggestion, and the two walked out of the store. Hiei, Kurama noticed, snuck a last almost longing look at the roses, and followed along.

The two walked back across town and met up with the others. None of the others had much luck in finding a gift. Kuwabara ended up rescuing a kitty, and thus got completely side traced from the mission. Botan had a terrible time trying to get Yusuke to look at practical Valentines Day gifts. Everyone agreed to Kurama's idea of paying a visit to The Candy Lady after school hours the next day. Kurama hid a small smirk as the group split up for the evening. The fox went home with hopeful thoughts of a fun Valentines day.

The next afternoon was bright and clear; the perfect day for picking up a gift for a precious fire demon. With his gift decided, Kurama had had a very pleasant nights sleep. With a smile and confident stroll, the fox demon walked to meet the rest of the group. It didn't take him long to reach the front gate of the school. Noticing that the school hadn't let out quite yet, he leaned up against the wall of the gate and waited for dismissal. He didn't sense Hiei's presence, so the red haired demon boy allowed himself to get lost in his thoughts.

A few minutes later and the expected yokai showed up. As was typical of the pyro, he sat in the nearest tree to wait. "Good afternoon, Hiei." Kurama smiled up at the ball of angst.

"Hn, whatever." Came the gruff greeting. Something was bothering the fire user, but Kurama decided not to ask anything. Given time, Hiei would end up letting Kurama know exactly what was on his mind. The ex-thief would just have to exercise his seemingly endless patience.

The two sat outside the brick wall of the school grounds in silence. Both were lost in their thoughts as they patiently awaited the signal bell. They didn't have to wait long. The ever precise bell rang, and within seconds students rushed out of the school buildings. Hiei jumped down out of the tree, and the two yokai did their best to look inconspicuous. Once about half of the school's students made their way outside of the school gates, Kurama spotted Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan. "I see them." Kurama informed Hiei, who just grunted in acknowledgement and avoided looking at the fox incarnate. That piqued the red head's interest.

"Ah, Kurama, Hiei." Botan waved to the duo.

"Shall we go?" Kurama asked his dark haired partner. Hiei nodded and followed the fox, all the while still avoiding eye contact.

"Well, let's get this over with." Yusuke grumped, and the group headed off.

As they passed down the various streets, Hiei once again lost himself in his thoughts. Something about going to The Candy Lady still bugged him. He'd been avoiding thinking about it all morning, but meeting Kurama brought back some thoughts of his. First off, once the dark haired demon had gotten home, he couldn't shake the feeling that his ex-thieving comrade had an ulterior motive in the Valentines gift hunting. Something about the way he acted and the things he said unsettled the young fire demon. All the time that the two of them were in The Candy Lady store, Hiei had been able to feel Kurama's eyes on him. The sword wielding demon had also caught a glimpse of a woman and Kurama discussing something. The fox was up to something, but he had no idea what. Second, his turbulent thoughts had given him the strangest dream. Hiei couldn't remember the entire dream, but it had something to do with Kurama and him eating dinner in a candle light room. That's all the fire demon could clearly remember, and that's all that he really wanted to remember. It didn't help that whenever he looked at Kurama bits of the dream came back to him.

The group followed Kurama's lead and reached The Candy Lady. Once inside, both Yusuke and Hiei engrossed themselves in examining the candy. Kurama made his way to the back of the store and picked up his package. He made sure to hide it in his robes so the receiver of the package wouldn't know about it too soon. When he returned to the front of the shop, he had to smile at the sight before him. Hiei and Yusuke were in a very heated discussion about the various chocolates in the shop. Yusuke was actually making semi-intelligent remarks, and Hiei was just looking absolutely adorable; kinda like a plushie.

"Kurama, make those two stop." Botan pleaded when she noticed the fox watching the two boys.

"Well, what exactly is the problem?" Kurama asked with a calm smile.

"Yusuke, insists on getting these fruit shaped chocolates for Koenma's woman." Hiei flared with a bit of childishness.

"And your idea of getting the box of roses is any better? What makes you want to get something so girly?' Yusuke flared right back. Kurama found that interesting. Hiei was rather attached to those rose shaped chocolates.

"We are getting something that would go to a girl, so wouldn't flowers be better than fruit?" Hiei countered pointedly not looking at Kurama.

"He has a point Yusuke. Those rose chocolates are cuter than the fruit." Botan tried to settle the argument.

"Why don't we get a box half full of roses and half full of fruit?" Kurama tactfully suggested. After a few seconds of contemplation, everyone in the group agreed that Kurama's suggestion would be best. The owner of the store happily complied with their wishes, and sent them on their way.

"Mission complete." Botan happily announced.

"All we have to do is deliver the goods. Why don't we go tomorrow; first thing in the morning?" Kurama suggested to the group, and everyone nodded in agreement.

The next day Kurama awoke in a very pleasant mood. He stretched and hurriedly went through his morning routine. He wanted to meet Hiei before they went to Koenma's palace. He couldn't wait to see the demon's reaction to his gift. Grabbing a towel, he all but ran into his shower.

Hiei had woken up from another strange dream, and decided to take a walk. He didn't really want to head to Koenma's so early. However, despite his wishes he found himself walking outside of a certain rose wielding red head's house. He stood on the sidewalk for a few moments and contemplated wiether he should enter the house or not. After starring at the place, he noticed that the widow to Kurama's room was open. Deciding that the fox yokai wouldn't mind seeing him, he leaped up to the window sill and went in.

A quick look around showed that Kurama wasn't in his room. A few seconds of puzzlement, and Hiei heard the shower. Rolling his eyes at the fact that he would be left waiting for the boy to finish showering, the dark haired boy looked around the room and a white box on the dresser caught his eye. With nothing better to do, he walked over to the box and read the top. It said, 'A precious gift for a precious person. Distributed by The Candy Lady'. Hiei stared at the box for a few minutes. Slowly he opened it to peak inside. Within the white box were a dozen of the rose shaped chocolates that had so caught his eye. These were a bit different from the ones in the store, though. The ones in this box were painted with red and green icing.

Kurama finished up his shower, put on some pants and while drying his hair, went back to his room. He stopped in the middle of the doorway to stare at a slightly surprising, but pleasant scene. Hiei was standing by the box of roses. The dark haired boy turned and had a strange, pleading look in his eyes. It was a look that Kurama couldn't resist. He walked over to the boy, "Is something wrong." He asked when he was a few steps away from his dark haired obsession.

"Are those my roses?" Hiei asked in a slightly shy and longing voice.

"Of course." Kurama smiled. "No one is more precious to me than you are." Kurama put his hand under the fire yokai's chin and tilted the boy's face up. "I gave you a Valentines gift, so I think I'll take my return gift now." With that Kurama soundly kissed the sword wielding yokai's lips.

Of course, no one is more precious to me than you are. Those words kept ringing in Hiei's mind; which is probably how he became so trapped. The fact that Kurama was giving him Valentines chocolates was surprise enough, but nothing could prepare himself for what came next. If Kurama's hand on his chin hadn't been enough warning, that look should have clued Hiei into what the fox might be planning, but for some reason Hiei's mind was sluggish.

When Kurama's lips pressed against his, the fire demon's mind went completely blank. Once the fox realized that Hiei wasn't pushing him away, he moved his right hand to the back of Hiei's head and tilted the boy's head back. To keep the boy from escaping, he slid his left hand to the small of the pyro's back. Once these acts had been completed, the fox slid his tounge across the dark haired one's lips. The fire yokai gave a slight gasp and Kurama thought about deepening the kiss, but he didn't want Hiei to be mad at him latter. A few seconds later, Hiei pushed against him, "K…Kura..ma, we…we'll be…late…" The boy struggled to say. Deciding that that was enough for now, Kurama let Hiei go. The dark haired boy blushed and put his left hand over his mouth. Kurama had to resist his urge to grab the boy and kiss him again. Instead he put his hand on Hiei's shoulder and asked if he was ready to leave. Hiei nodded.

Kurama and Hiei arrived at the meeting a little late. Hiei wasn't able to make eye contact with his red haired companion without blushing, and Kurama was a little miffed about being late again, but in the end it was all worth it. When the duo strode into the room where everyone was gathered, the pleasantness of the morning almost wore off. Koenma looked like he would cry, and everyone else looked like they were ready to kill Yusuke. After a quick glance at each other, the two ex-thieves asked what had happened.

"Yusuke ate half the box of chocolates that we picked out." Botan said in a rather furious voice. That's when the two yokai noticed the box of chocolates on the desk. All that was left in it were the roses. Kurama put an arm over Hiei's shoulder, and the two laughed.

"This is no laughing matter." A very upset Koenma rebuked, but it did no good. The two yokai found it just too funny that Yusuke had eaten all of the fruit shaped chocolate.