"I'm sorry for being late!! but this rain... Ne Hiei, how come you are with us? Did Mukuro give you the day off?"

Hiei, obviously, didn't consider that question worthy of any reply.

"Urameshi, you came in just in time; I was arguing with Kurama on which of our battles should be considered harder: the Ankoku Bujuutsukai [Author's note: the first tournament] or the battle against Sensui."

Yusuke thought about it for a short time, then said, "Well... I think the battle with Sensui. I even died again!"

Kurama and Kuwabara nodded at this.

"Hn! " Hiei burst out. "You are wrong, the tournament was worse... you forget something..."

"And that was...?"

"We had a bathroom for 4!"

Kurama exited the bathroom wearing a white bathrobe and with his hair wrapped in a towel... as if he were wearing a turban. The water drops on his body revealed his light skin and some rebel locks of hairs were sliding out the towel, falling on his eyes in spite of all his attempts to remove them with little puffs. From his body came a scent of wild roses, he was a really breathtaking vision. If the female public of the tournament were there, surely an enthusiastic and adoring choir would have raised, chanting his natural gifts; but there was only a male public in that room (namely the one and only Kazuma Kuwabara) and his reaction was extremely different:

"Oh, Kurama, that's not the way!! Being clean is very important, sure, but you are going too far... you smell like a little lady!!! It's true that a man must keep himself clean, but a REAL man must also retain that sour smell so strong and masculine; you must look at me, the great Kazuma Kuwabara, for..."

SPLASH!!!

A good kick in the back and the next instant Kuwabara was inside the full bathtub.

"Hn, Mr. real man... try to be more tolerable while we're in the same room!"

"Hiei, bloody bast..."

SPLASH!!!

Kuwabara had tried to stand up again but slipped again in the bathtub, flooding the bathroom floor. In that precise moment Yusuke ran into the room. "Oh, Kurama, I'm glad that you've finished with your bath... after training so hard I really need a...."

SPLASH!!!

Yusuke slipped on the wet floor and fell in the bathtub, bringing also Hiei with him. In short... now all the three boys were in the bathtub with their clothes still on: Kuwabara at the farther side, Hiei in the middle and then Yusuke on the nearest side. Kuwabara tried to exploit this situation by drowning Hiei, with Yusuke trying to stop him and the little fire demon swearing and struggling as if he were possessed while trying to get out the tub.

Kurama puffed at another rebel lock. "And this is only the first night.... I can imagine the next!!!"

"I'll make you pay for that trick in the bathroom, Hiei!"

"Stop it, Kuwabara, your attempt to drown him in the tub was not that... 'friendly'! When Hiei came out from the water he was cyanotic!"

Hiei cast a homicidal look at Yusuke.

"Hey... why are you looking at me like that? I even tried to help you!"

"If someone 'trying to help me' hadn't put his knees on my back, I would have gotten out from that damn bathtub long before!"

"But you must admit that I made myself useful in some other way, ne, Hiei?" said Yusuke, giving the other an enigmatic smile.

Hiei understood at once. "You're right..." And gave back the smile.

Hiei and Yusuke were alone in the room. The latter was making some physical exercise, while the former, sitting on the bed, was cleaning his katana. Suddenly, dropping from the big heap of things that Kuwabara had "put in order" on his beside table, a little rectangular box fell on the floor. Hiei cast a quick look at it (surely he didn't think even for a moment of putting it again on the table). After few seconds he gave it a more attentive look, and at last he took it and began to examine it more closely.

"Yusuke, take a look at this box and tell me what it contains."

"You can't read it by yourself?"

"Yes... but I don't know much of the human's customs, and I'm not sure that this thing is what I think it is."

Yusuke began to read the label, and an evil grin formed on his face.

"Ah... so it WAS what I thought."

"That was the first time that Hiei and I did something by tacit agreement," said Yusuke, a bit nostalgic.

"And you're actually proud of it?" said Kuwabara. "If Kurama had not helped me I'd have had to go to the tournament with my hair dyed in a wonderful shade of purple with pink spots! Even now, I don't know what you put in that shampoo!"

"Shampoo? But wasn't that hair dye?"

"That was a simple reinvigorating shampoo; Kurama, tell them, please! You know my hair is this color naturally... I don't dye it!!"

Kuwabara seemed on the verge of hysterics.

"Yes... I know that's your hair's natural color, Kuwabara-san."

"Sure... and up there is a flying donkey..." said at once Hiei and Yusuke.

"You are envious of my hair, that's the truth! You say that but you'd love having a marvelous hair like mine, capable of sustaining those impressive hair styles!"

"Speaking of hair styles," said Kurama. "Do you remember 'the grease rite'?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara were in front of the bathroom mirror, spreading some grease on their hair before going to the tournament. Kurama was also in the bathroom waiting his turn (there was only a mirror in that room). Hiei, who had already prepared himself, was looking at the others with a bored face. "I think that wasting so much time with hair is pointless."

"Judging from your hair, you don't ever waste your time in those pointless things," said Kuwabara, eyeing the other's hair with a superior look.

Kurama brushed his fingers on Hiei's hair.

"I think you should take better care of your hair, it's so bristly... Wait a moment, I have something that fits your needs." Kurama started to rummage inside his bags. "Uhm... you must use some balm for the hair-tips, then you need this lotion for reinforcing it, after that you can use this shampoo followed by that rinse and... ah, I think that this after-drying is perfect for your situation. And you guys, also... you don't know that grease is extremely harmful for your hair? You must use this product instead; it contains..."

Kurama continued for a while, drawing out of his bag a vial for every product mentioned.

The others were VERY embarrassed.

"Kurama... do you work as a hair cosmetics salesman?" asked Yusuke (with a cat-like face...)

"Bah!" said Kuwabara "I need only my extra-strong grease. Did you notice how my hair remains perfectly shaped after every fight?"

Hiei started looking at the little box containing the 'grease'.

"Extra-strong glue?" said Hiei disgusted. "You should use this in a more useful way: sealing your mouth forever, idiot!"

"You, little..."

They started bickering.

"My grease might not be as effective as Kuwabara's, but the ruffling of my hair during battle makes a big impression on the female public, right, Kurama?

"Well... I still think your hair would have a better look if...." And continued listing various products and methods for the hair's care.

Suddenly the door opened.

"Still in the bathroom?!? You're worse than a bunch of little girls putting on make up for the New Year's Eve party!" The old Genkai was very angry.

"Get out immediately! Line up! ...And now hurry up, before I get REALLY angry!"

"That time old Genkai really scared me: she was black as thunder!!"

"You're right Kuwabara, but the worst thing of all was definitely..."

All the guys started looking at Hiei...

"THE KILLER FOG!"

An unexpected fog had filled the entire hotel, and people were starting to panic. It was a strange fog, hot and heavy...

Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama were inspecting the building in search of the source of that strange phenomenon.

"Going up from here, the fog gets hotter," Kurama noticed.

"Go up, then... I guess that following this track we'll get to the source," said Yusuke.

"Look! It's coming from our room! Those damned sons of a...!!! They prepared a trap to get rid of us even before the battle started!"

"Wait, Kuwabara! We must enter together."

The fog came directly from the bathroom. Its temperature was even higher there... it was almost unbearable. The three boys smashed the door and entered the room ready for battle.

A little and dark shadow was there, hidden by the fog.

"NOW, WHAT ARE YOU THREE DOING HERE?"

Hiei seemed very angry....

"Every time Hiei bathed was always a tragedy!"

Kuwabara was bursting his sides with laughter. "Do you remember the time when he raised the temperature so much that the sprinklers were activated?"

Hiei continued to look out the window, but he was very annoyed. "That bath thing is really starting to bother me!" he said. "Even Mukuro keeps moaning... she said that she won't take a longer bath with me if I continue raising the water temperature so much."

When Hiei realized what he had said, it was too late.

"Mukuro said what??" Kurama and Yusuke came closer to him.

"Hiei... so you and Mukuro..."

"That's none of your business!!!"

The two took off their friend from the windowsill and started storming him with questions. Hiei didn't say anything, but he was clearly embarrassed.

"I'm very proud of you, Hiei!" said Yusuke at last.

"I should be mad at you, since you never told me a thing, but I'm too happy for this," Kurama added.

"I've never seen this Mukuro... is she a cute girl?" That was from Kuwabara.

Yusuke and Kurama remained silent... they didn't know what to say.

"She's not cute..." said Hiei, standing up and returning to the windowsill. "...She's beautiful..."

Hiei continued to look at the rain.

"...My Mukuro" he said quietly to himself.