Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to YT. And not me. And that kind of rhymed. A little.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/alerted! You guys are the best. I do hope you enjoyed this little story of mine. ^_^

And a GIANT thank you to my dear, dear Jordan - who is ridiculously over worked and yet always there when I need her.

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Epilogue

Monday

“Stupid freaking fire demon,” Yusuke muttered under his breath.

He should’ve realized something terrible was going to happen to him the night before, where, after first beating Yusuke to a pulp – Hiei fighting harder than Yusuke had ever seen the demon fight before – he had announced that he was staying over for one more night. Yusuke was confused, but too sore to question why Hiei wanted to stay with them for one more night.

That morning he was informed by Hiei that he still ‘owed’ him; because even though Hiei had won the ‘fight’ between them for the first time in the history of them knowing each other, it didn’t count as the favor because Hiei hadn’t specified that Yusuke fight against him at all. No, the demon had much more … terrible and humiliating plans in mind.

Apparently, the fire demon had gotten help from Keiko in his wicked scheme, if the way the two of them had been whispering together over cereal – or the way she had pointed and outright laughed – was any indication. Freaking wife.

“I can’t hear you!” Hiei called from his perch in a nearby tree.

Yusuke rolled his shoulders and walked as confidently as he could down the middle of the road in his lime green Speedo, calf high black socks, and brown sandals. “Hear ye! Hear ye! Hiei is the greatest! Hiei is the most awesome! Hiei is better than me in every single way! I wish I was as strong as Hiei!”

--

Midori hummed to herself as she placed the books in the children’s section back in order after a particular group of kindergarteners had so thoughtfully reorganized them, pausing briefly to push her glasses up her nose with her index finger. She enjoyed her life as a single in the city, and loved her job that dealt with books more than people. Books were easy to understand, self sustaining and always redeeming. People, on the other hand…

She shuddered a little as she remembered the god-awful date she had gone on with that Kurama person. Keiichi had called him ‘Uncle.’ She couldn’t believe the Urameshi’s could associate with such a man. And his short little friend! She was seriously questioning the cognitive abilities of Keiko and Yusuke Urameshi.

Somebody cleared their throat behind her. “Excuse me, Midori?”

Ahh, speak of the devil.

Midori rose to her feet, holding several translated copies of Shel Silverstien’s books in her hands. “Why, Mr. Urameshi, I was just thinking about your frie-”

Her eyes landed on Yusuke standing in the middle of the children’s section, holding the two books that Keiichi and his infamous uncles had checked out of the library, clothed in nothing but a lime green Speedo, calf high black socks, and brown sandals.

Midori dropped Mr. Silverstien’s books to the floor and let out an earth shattering scream.

Yusuke dropped the books he held and clasped his hands over his ears, visibly wincing at the noise.

“GET OUT!” Midori shouted, pointing towards the doors of the Tokyo’s Public Library. “GET OUT YOU BIG SICKO! YOU AND YOUR CRAZY FRIENDS! GET OUT AND NEVER COME BACK! YOU ARE NEVER ALLOWED IN THIS BUILDING AGAIN! NOT YOU, NOT YOUR FRIENDS, NOT YOUR FAMILY! GET OUT NOW!!!”

Yusuke ran out of the building as fast as he could.

A crowd of people came running to see what the commotion was all about, but Midori didn’t care to explain why there was a half naked man running out of the library in terrible footwear. She crumpled to the floor with her head in her hands, doing her best to calm her pounding heart.

Reaching a hand back to check the state of her bun (still intact, thank God) she let out a sigh. “How the heck did he even get in here wearing that, anyway?”

At that moment, the two security guards who should’ve stopped Mr. Urameshi before he entered without a shirt (or PANTS) came running up, their noses bloodied and their eyes blackened.

She glared at them and pushed her glasses up her nose once more. “Well. That explains that, I suppose.”

--

When Yusuke ran out of the library he could hear Hiei laughing from a nearby tree, apparently being able to hear the librarian’s screams of terror – but, really, he was certain everyone in Tokyo could hear her. Yusuke stopped running and glared up at the tree, looking even crazier to fellow citizens as they walked past for glaring up at a tree.

“Did you know she was going to freak out like that?” He asked, his arms crossing over his bare chest.

He could just make it out as Hiei shook his head. “No. But, I had hoped.” Hiei lost himself to his laughter again and Yusuke huffed.

“She banished me and my family from the library, Hiei. Thanks a lot for that. My kid reads every night. Now where am I supposed to get him books?”

Hiei shrugged dismissively, and if Yusuke squinted, it looked like he was picking up tear gems from his lap. “Those books were ridiculous. I’m sure you’ll be able to purchase more adequate ones.”

“Che,” Yusuke glared, “Do you know how crazy expensive those retarded books are? Like, twenty dollars! For a five page book about how dogs bark!”

“Quit your whining and get back to proclaiming my greatness, Detective.” Hiei ordered, leaning back in the tree and putting his hands behind his head.

Yusuke scratched his temple, looking from Hiei back to the library building. “Something just doesn’t add up here,” he muttered to himself. “Why would you want me to hand those books back to Midori personally? I mean, I’m surprised you even remember her name … I know Keiichi adores her, man, that brat is gonna freak out now that he can’t see her anymore.” His brow furrowed.

“I can’t hear you, Detective!” Hiei called out.

Yusuke tilted his furrowed face up to Hiei. “You knew she’d react that way. You knew we’d be banished. You did it on purpose!”

Hiei sat up in his perch, resting his palms on the branch in front of him. He glared down at Yusuke. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Yusuke pointed a finger and smiled broadly, many people on the sidewalk giving him a wide birth as they passed by. “You were jealous! You were jealous that Keiichi liked the librarian, so you made it so that he wouldn’t see her anymore!”

Hiei’s glare intensified tenfold. “You have no idea what you were talking about.”

Yusuke doubled over from laughter. “Oh, man! You were jealous! That’s priceless!”

The fire demon jumped down from his perch. He pushed Yusuke against the tree, wrapping his hand around his neck and completely immobilizing him; not that Yusuke seemed to notice, laughing so hard he was crying. Hiei raised his other fist and held it near Yusuke’s face, letting out a low growl.

“Do you want a repeat of last night?”

Yusuke shook his head and tried to hold up his hands in surrender. “No, no, listen! I think it’s so funny cause I’m jealous of you!”

He tightened his grip on Yusuke’s neck. “Explain.”

“Keiichi idolizes you, man. When he found out you were gonna watch him while we were gone, it was practically all he talked about. You’re his, ‘cool uncle Hiei.’ He has a play sword and he pretends to be you. Last night, when I hadn’t seen him in days and was bleeding and in a desperate need of a pick-me-up from a four year old, he demanded that you be the one to tuck him in, and completely blew me off! I was jealous because my kid hero worships my ex-teammate, all the while you were jealous of some stupid librarian that doesn’t even matter!”

“Hn.” Hiei released his hold on Yusuke completely and took a step back. “I’m not jealous of the librarian.”

Yusuke wiped the tears off his face and smirked. “Sure.”

“Being jealous of the librarian implies I have some attachment for the boy,” Hiei continued, ignoring his former teammate’s smirk, “which, I assure you, I have none.”

Yusuke nodded. “Whatever you say.”

Hiei snarled and jumped back into the tree. “Get back to proclaiming my greatness, detective.”

The former spirit detective rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he muttered angrily, walking out into the middle of the street. “Hiei is the greatest!”

--

A cold, night breeze wafting in from the window stirred Keiichi from his sleep. He furrowed his brow and drew his stuffed T-Rex closer to him, trying to block out the cold wind. With a sniffle, he wiped off the dried tears from his face and rolled over in his bed, slowly blinking his eyes open.

“Hey, kid.”

Keiichi’s eyes widened and he rubbed his nose. “Uncle Hiei?”

The fire demon nodded from his seat on the window sill, one leg bent and his elbow resting on his knee.

Keiichi smiled brightly and sat up in his bed, stuffed T-Rex forgotten. “I thought you left!”

“I’m leaving soon,” Hiei answered, turning his face to look out the open window.

Keiichi sniffled again and pushed the blankets off his body. He dangled his legs off the side of his bed. “Will you be gone for a long time?”

He shrugged a single shoulder.

“Do you,” Keiichi wiped his nose with his forearm, “do you think she would like me?”

Hiei moved his head to look at Keiichi curiously.

“Mukuro, I mean. Mama says that you,” he fiddled with the sleeves of his dinosaur pajamas, “Mama says that you love her and if she’s special to you than I want her to like me too.”

Hiei rested his head against the wall, his eyes never leaving the young boy.

Keiichi swung his feet back and forth, the palms of his hands resting against the mattress behind him. “Would you ever bring her here? To meet me, Uncle Hiei?”

He raised an eyebrow. “She’s busy, kid.”

Keiiki nodded and hung his head. “But do you … do you think she would like me?”

The fire demon studied the boy for a moment, the expression on his face impassive, but a thoughtful and faraway look in his red eyes. “Typically Mukuro likes the things that I like.”

When Keiichi raised his head it was with a soft smile on his face, the meaning of the words not lost on the small boy. He pushed himself off the bed, his bare feet padding on the blue carpet, and walked towards his adopted uncle. Without an invitation, he wrapped his arms around Hiei’s waist and rested his head on his outer thigh.

“Will you be back to visit soon, Uncle Hiei?” was his muffled question.

Hiei’s eyes widened as he looked down at the small boy attached to him. With visible hesitation, he raised a hand and rested it on the top of the boy’s head. “Eventually,” he answered, obviously unsure as to what to do with his hand now that it was on the top of the boy’s head.

Keiichi smiled against Hiei’s cloak. “I’m glad.”

The End.

:) Hope you liked it!