Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. :/

AN: It's a short, but good one.

Chapter seven

"Hiei told me you wanted to learn to fight," Kurama said.

"Yea- Yeah," Kaori stuttered. She hadn't seen Kurama since he was in possession of the Forlorn Hope.

"Let us begin."

"Here? In front of all of these humans?" Kaori asked, confused.

Kuraram sighed. "No, we will go into the woods. There will be more room to move round. And fewer eyes watching," he turned, and walked away. Kaori followed him to the clearing where Yusuke fought Goki. "Here we are." Kaori didn't know how to react. What was going on? She knew Hiei supposedly asked Kurama to teach Kaori to fight, but why here? "Let us begin."

Kurama didn't waste any time. He blurred; Kaori blinked, and he was right in front of her. She didn't even see the punch that he threw at her. She just felt the pain of a rib or two cracking, then flying backwards. A tree stopped her flight. Her back erupted in pain. He's supposed to help, not kill me. Kaori thought. Kurama allowed Kaori to stand back up before rushing at her again. He blurred again, and reappeared in front of her. But, instead if hitting her, he just stood there. "Kaori, you must concentrate if you plan to even have a chance. If you're going to fight a demon, you must let your spirit energy take over. Let it flow to every pore of your body. Allow it to fill your eyes."

Kaori closed her eyes, and just let herself go. She let her mind empty. She felt her spirit energy flow throughout her body. When she opened her eyes, she could follow Kurama's movements. He was simply side stepping, he didn't show any strain. There was only one way to hurt him, she wasn't fast enough to catch him, so she would wait for him to come to her.

She waited, following his movements. He didn't step close enough for her to land a punch. This is going to take longer than I thought…She thought. And that is when he got close enough. She used her new, spirit filled fist to punch his as hard as she could in the stomach. Now it was his turn to have ribs cracked. Just like Kaori did, Kurama flew back and hit a tree. She heard more cracking. She feared he broke his back. When she took a step forward to see if he was okay, the tree snapped in half.

"Did- Did I do that?" Kaori stuttered.

"Yes, you did," Kurama panted as he stood up. "I think that is enough for today. This is the first time you used your Spirit Energy. I don't know how your body will deal with your broken ribs."

"Oh. I completely forgot," Kaori said, letting the small amount of Spirit Energy reduce to her aura. That's when the pain hit her.

"Keep your Spirit Energy flow. It will help repair your wounds." Kurama helped Kaori up. She hadn't realized she had fallen.

"Thank you." She winced. Kurama walked her home.

"I am sorry about that. I was trying to take it easy, without being too nice," Kurama said, opening the front door for Kaori.

"Don't take it easy! I need to learn to do this!" Kaori said, a little too loud. Kurama pulled her a bit closer to whisper to her.

"Kaori, I must not hurt you. I'm already in enough trouble for your rib," Kurama whispered. "Hiei seems to take a great deal of responsibility toward you. He couldn't teach you to fight." And with that, he was gone.

Kurama's words filled Kaori's mind. "Couldn't hurt you." "Great deal of responsibility toward you." Did Kurama mean that?

Hiei was waiting for Kaori inside of the apartment. He had a bandage and an ice pack. He asked her to strip to her undershirt to put the bandage on. There was no need to ask where it hurt, Hiei seemed to already know. He pulled the bandage tight, causing Kaori to gasp in pain. Hiei instinctively wrapped his arms around Kaori. "Are you alright?" Hiei asked, looking her right in the eye. Kaori couldn't speak. Hiei's lips were so close to her own. She couldn't help herself, she had to kiss him.

When their lips touched, it was like nothing Kaori had ever felt. Electric currents ran through Kaori's body, into Hiei's. He was surprisingly gentle. He ran his hand up and down her back, softly running over the broken ribs. She melted into the kiss.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. "Kaori? It's Botan. Are you home?" Hiei quickly ran to the kitchen, pretending to get Kaori food.

"Yes, Botan. Come in," Kaori said, trying to clear the fog from her mind. "What's up?"

"Just came to check on you. You know, with Yusuke gone." Botan continued to blabber on. Kaori hardly heard it. The kiss she just shared with Hiei was the only thing that she could concentrate on. "Earth to Kaori? Kaori? Are you in there?" Botan asked, knocking on Kaori's head.

"Huh? Yes, I'm here. Sorry," Kaori said, blushing.

"What is going on? Is it-" Botan said, winking. Kaori blushed deeper. Hiei opened the kitchen door, with a tray of food. "Hiei."

Hiei set the food on the table in front of Kaori. "Thank you, Hiei." Kaori said, without tone. He sat next to her, and stared at Botan, not saying a word. Botan chatted mildly about nothing in particular for quite some time. Around midnight, Botan decided to leave.

"I'll see you later, Kaori!" Botan shouted as she flew out the window on her ore. Hiei still didn't say anything, even after Botan left. Suddenly he was at her side.

"Your bandage fell off." Hiei said, fixing it. Kaori, blushing again, looked right in Hieis' eyes. They picked up right where they left off.

A/N: Please review! But nothing rude, please.