Disclaimer: Mrof ro yaw yna ni ohsukaH uY uY nwo ton od I. Say that five times fast.

Notes: I believe this was my second one-shot...I wrote most of my stuff back in June or July, so it's been a while. However, I have been informed that this peice is better than Mistake. Enjoy! Feedback is appreciated, as it will help me grow as a writer. Kinda like milk for bones, ya know?

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Pearly Whites

It was hot.

Insanely hot.

'It should be illegal to be this hot,' A certain Spirit Detective thought rather sourly. He was draped fairly awkwardly over the couch in Kuwabara's living room, his arms and torso hanging off the armrest. His green tank top was riding up his stomach due to his position, not that he minded. 'Hell, I'd be walking around naked if it wasn't so indecent.'

Hearing Kuwabara give a rather odd moan from the floor, Yusuke lifted his head a fraction to glace at him. His usually loud friend was lying face down on the carpeting, arms and legs spread apart as far away from his body as possible in order to keep as cool as possible. But was that large black thing there before…?

Giving his head a slight shake and blinking his eyes blearily, Yusuke lifted himself up a few more inches so his elbows could support him on the couch. He observed the demon he'd mistaken for a black blob for a few seconds before offering an unenthusiastic greeting.

"Hey, Hiei. What's up? Do you usually go around stepping on random people?" Yusuke was slightly annoyed at how hoarse and quiet his voice sounded. 'Stupid heat. Stupid broken air conditioning!'

Hiei tossed him a bored look, glancing up from where he'd been staring at Kuwabara with a disgusted look on his face. He was, indeed, standing on Kuwabara's back. Giving a little jump, he managed to elicit a grunt from the exhausted and overheated redhead.

"Hn. The oaf makes a better floor rug than a human," Hiei spat out, stepping delicately to the floor. Kuwabara halfheartedly made a relatively rude hand gesture. Hiei snorted. Yusuke yawned.

"So, what are you doing here anyway?" Yusuke inquired, flopping back down on the couch. It just wasn't worth the effort to stay up.

"Hell if I know." Hiei scoffed. "The fox was getting on my nerves and it's too damn hot to sit in a tree all day." He cast a disinterested glance out the window and then glared at the plant life, as if it had offended him somehow. "Why are you here, detective?"

"I don't have air conditioning. But Kuwabara's is broken, so it doesn't matter anyway. Both of our places are an oven," the raven-haired teenager mumbled from the furniture. Saliva had begun to gather in his mouth from hanging almost upside down for the past few minutes, so he apathetically spat it onto the floor beneath him, starting at it rather listlessly. Hiei made a disgusted sound. As if suddenly remembering the fire demon existed, Yusuke quickly sat up and peeked over his shoulder at him. "Hey Hiei, can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

"Shut up, asshole."

"Then how am I supposed to answer your question?"

"Do demons brush their teeth?"

"I—" Hiei gave him an odd look. Yusuke, aware that his inquiry was rather random, allowed the red-eyed demon a few seconds for it to sink in before saying anything else. "Well?"

Hiei gave a small shrug of his shoulders and stared indifferently across the room to where Kuwabara was beginning to snore. Yusuke winced at the obnoxious sound and chucked a pillow at the other teen. Kuwabara gave a rough snort and quieted.

"So, do they?"

"How should I know? Unlike a certain annoying human I know, I don't go around asking demons if they brush their teeth."

"Well, you must at least know some demon who brushed their teeth. I bet Kurama does!"

Hiei gave him a stare that said "Well, duh," before he decided to answer. "That's because he's in his human form, fool."

Yusuke glared. Hiei raised an eyebrow.

"Do you think he did when he was Youko Kurama?"

"Why should I care? Why should you even care?" Hiei snapped. "Ask him yourself if you're so desperate." Yusuke didn't answer, just gazed at Hiei thoughtfully. Hiei stared emotionlessly back. It was a full minute before Yusuke opened his mouth.

"Do demons brush their teeth, Hiei?"

Said apparition clenched his teeth angrily. "I don't know, dammit! And I don't care, either!"

"That still doesn't answer my question."

Glaring and cursing under his breath, Hiei spat out between his teeth, "Class B and lower, doubtfully. If they look human enough, I suppose some A, S, and maybe upper B class demons brush their teeth. Happy now?"

Yusuke gave him a toothy grin, the most emotion he'd bothered showing all day. "Nope," he replied sweetly. "Do you brush your teeth, Hiei?"

His answer was a very blank stare. Yusuke's grin melted into frown as he glared at the silent man before him. "Well!"

No response.

"TELL ME, DAMMIT!"

"No."

"HIEI! Why not?"

"I'll ask you again, why do you care?"

"BECAUSE I JUST DO! TELL ME!"

"No."

"NOW!"

"Alright!" Hiei finally roared, effectively silencing the detective. "But only if you promise to SHUT UP!"

Yusuke merely gazed at him mildly. "Alright."

Hiei relaxed from his angry stance, his body going limp. This damn heat was making the boy go insane. Since when did he scream so damn much?

"So? Do you?" Yusuke's voice was starting to get higher in pitch again, so Hiei quickly scrambled to give his answer. "Yes," he ground out reluctantly, "I do. Sometimes."

Yusuke gave him that stupid grin again. "Really?"

"Yeeeeees…" Hiei forced out. Then he quickly added, "But only because things like plaque and yellow and brown teeth disgust me."

Yusuke smiled at him for another few moments before bursting into raucous laughter at the mental picture Hiei's revelation made. Falling off of the couch and onto his butt on the floor, his obnoxious giggling and sniggering woke up Kuwabara from his heat-induced slumber. Yelling angrily, he and the Spirit Detective were soon brawling, the raven-haired teen still laughing hysterically. Hiei glared at the lamp in the corner, imagining it was Yusuke's head and that he was happily killing it.

What was so bad about him brushing his teeth, anyway?

"Yusuke! SHUT UP!"

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I seem to have a thing for Hiei-torture and OOC-Yusuke. He's rather immature here.

I do have a second part to this, but I'm not posting. I just said that to be evil. It has a rather forced feeling, I think, and isn't as good as this part by a long shot. I will post the second half if I ever get ideas to improve it, though. So it may come.

Thanks for reading!