Past Revisited

By: Cece Williams

((Disclaimer: Okay, if you didn't know I don't own YYH, I don't.))

Cece: "Trial of Halves" is here!

Kurama: Okay. Enough of the chocolate.

Yusuke: Anything we can watch?

Kurama/Cece: (hit Yusuke) NO!

Cece: Read on; the mystery of Binoculars Guy comes out, too.

Kurama: And two different sides.

Cece: Keep reading, and thanks to all the people who reviewed the other two parts.

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Kurama walked into the café, dressed in a green flannel shirt with a white undershirt and khakis. He had made a bet with Andrea on a game of Dance Dance Revolution /1, with the loser buying lunch. Well, Kurama thanked Enma for that job he had, because he had to pay for lunch. He had arrived five minutes early, which was a good thing, because the café was starting to get busy.

A waitress walked up to him and smiled at him. "Hey, hot stuff," she said, flirtation in her voice.

Kurama smiled, although he was embarrassed. "Uh, hello. I need a table please. For two."

The waitress nodded at the redhead. "Sure thing, honey," she answered, leading him to a table, where he sat down, and she left two menus. "I'll be back in a little bit, pumpkin." With that, she went to attend to other customers.

Kurama pulled one of the menus open and started reading it. It was a close game, Kurama thought as he continued reading. I'm glad she won.

Andrea, dressed in a tan jacket over a light blue shirt, khakis, and blue tennis shoes, walked in the café and noticed a familiar looking redhead. She snuck up behind him and held onto his shoulder. "Hey."

Kurama looked up at her; he already knew who it was and smiled. "Hello."

Andrea looked at him, eyebrow raised. "Nothing ever fazes you, does it?"

Kurama shook his head. "Not much."

Jokingly, Andrea pursed her glossed lips into a pout. "You're no fun," she teased at him. "Still sore about you losing on DDR?"

Kurama watched as Andrea walked to the other side of the table. "I am never sore over anything, though my rear may be."

Andrea sat down in front of him and looked at him. "Well, you almost had me," she said, and as Kurama nodded, she continued. "Though I wish I could say the same about that other guy."

Kurama chuckled. He knew whom she was talking about. One guy had gotten on the machine and challenged Andrea, who had defeated him faster than it took for paint to dry. "He had it coming," he remarked.

Andrea nodded her head, her bangs teasing her forehead. "True."

Kurama looked at her with his emerald gaze. Andrea was definitely something else. "Do you wish to order?" he asked her.

"Well, nothing with caffeine," Andrea answered him, still slightly tired from the game. "Trying to tone down."

With everything that had happened, Kurama had to agree; caffeine wasn't a smart idea. "Agreed. Does fruit juice sound good?"

Andrea nodded her head. "Did you just read my mind?"

"It's the only thing here without caffeine."

If I turn red in front of this guy... she thought to herself. Aloud, she answered, "I doubt I could handle caffeine at the moment."

Just then, the waitress appeared at their table. "So, what will it be, darling?" she asked.

Kurama wasn't really over the last bit of the flirtation aimed at him. "Uh, fruit juice please," he answered her and watched Andrea nod.

The waitress looked from Andrea to Kurama. "All right, honey; I'll get it for you." With that, she walked off.

After the waitress left the table, Andrea started giggling into her hand, which ultimately caused Kurama to look at her. Andrea looked back at him. "I think it's cute; she called you honey and darling," she said to him.

Kurama sweatdropped. "The curse of being a thousand year old Youko."

Andrea tried everything in her power to stop giggling, but so far, nothing was working. "Could be worse, you know," she said.

"True," Kurama agreed.

Andrea leaned on the table and answered him in a low tone only meant for Kurama. "You could be Yusuke."

Kurama jokingly grimaced. That could be worse now that he thought about it. "Oh, that would be bad," he answered, chuckling into his hand.

From the light flowing into the café, Andrea's eyes seemed to shimmer like two rare blue gems. "Then you'd be arrested for having devilish attraction."

Kurama couldn't help but laugh. "It wouldn't be the first time that's happened."

Andrea leaned back into her chair and looked at him, smiling. "Think it could be the last time?" she asked him. Oh, my God. I'm flirting with him, she added to herself.

"Most likely," Kurama answered her. Mentally, he was questioning what was going on. Is she flirting with me? Am I flirting with her? he asked himself in his mind.

Andrea laughed through her closed mouth. "Does this mean I have to arrest you?" she asked him as she thought to herself, Whatever you do... don't turn red.

"Only if it's an offense," Kurama answered her, hiding his hands under the table. Why are my hands trembling? he asked himself mentally. Usually, he was calm, but now he looked about as nervous as a deer in the headlights.

Why is my heart beating like crazy? What's wrong with me? she asked herself, feeling her heart racing within her. "In that case, I could arrest you," Andrea said out loud while her mind was screaming, Enma... I'm starting to turn red.

Kurama raised his hands in surrender; he was playing along with her.

Giggling lightly, Andrea dug into her pocket. Pulling out a scrunchie, she wrapped it around his wrists like elastic handcuffs. Suddenly, she froze as if she were being shocked.

(Andrea's Subconscious Thoughts)

"Enma, please tell me I'm not flirting with him," she pleaded mentally.

Her conscious nodded. "Girl, you are" she said to her.

Mentally, Andrea was stunned. "I just forgave him, and now I'm flirting?" Noticing something was a little wrong, she added, "Uh... why's he looking at me like that?"

Andrea's conscious was wide-awake. "Girl, he's giving you the look!"

Andrea felt like she could have a heart attack. "It's only a dream... it's only a dream..." she thought.

Her other half shook her head. "It isn't any dream, hun."

Andrea felt like she was spacing out. "Okay, must snap out of it."

"O-KAY!" Her other half said in Alvin's voice and knocked her back into reality. /2/

(Kurama's Inner Thoughts with Youko)

Meanwhile, in Kurama's mind, Youko was wondering why his human side wasn't moving. "Shuichi, what's wrong with you? The girl's giving you signs already."

Kurama felt frozen, as if he were stuck in the same minute everything happened… and he didn't like it. "I don't know. I froze!"

Youko rolled his eyes. "Well, then, unfreeze," he mentally said to his human counterpart.

Mentally, Kurama wished he could. "Kinda hard right now!" he answered.

In his mind, Youko gave Kurama a knock upside his head.

Kurama rubbed his head mentally. "Ow! What was that for!"

Mentally, Youko looked at him. "Wake up, Shuichi! The girl is in love with you and you look like you're in denial!"

Kurama wasn't trying to be in denial; he just was. "But did you have to hit me?"

Youko gave Kurama a teasing glance in Andrea's direction. "Either that, or for that lovely woman in front of you to give you mouth-to-mouth, if you know what I mean." As Kurama popped him back, Youko looked at him. "Ouch."

(Back to Reality)

Andrea blinked, flinching her fingers back. She didn't know where her mind went, but it was definitely not in her brain.

Kurama noticed Andrea's sudden movement and looked overall concerned. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

Andrea's heart started to race again. "Oh! I... thought I shocked you a second ago," she answered. "What about you? Are you all right?"

Kurama blinked, out of it himself. "I'm, uh, fine."

Andrea looked at Kurama's "handcuffed" wrists and giggled. She said in a low tone where no one would hear, except Kurama, "I guess the great kitsune met his match."

Kurama looked at his wrists and chuckled. Indeed. "I guess he has," he agreed.

Just then, the waitress had returned, bringing two glasses of fruit juice. She looked at Kurama's wrists and raised an eyebrow. "Everything all right?"

Andrea nodded. "Just fine," she answered.

Kurama nodded in agreement. "Yes."

Still a little confused about Kurama's bound wrists, the waitress walked away. "Okay..."

Andrea set her elbows on the table and rested her chin against her hands. "So, how's the great kitsune gonna get out of this one?" she asked him.

Kurama smiled at her, a sly look on his face. "Well, I think I'll...Wait, is that Ogata Megumi/3/" He pointed on another direction.

Andrea blinked. Kurama knew she was her favorite Japanese singer. "Huh?" She looked in the direction he pointed. "Where?" When Andrea looked back at him, she said, "I don't see her." Then she saw that Kurama had slipped out of the scrunchie and held it up with a smirk on his face. "Show off."

Kurama chuckled, still holding the scrunchie in his hand. "I wasn't the best for nothing."

"I know," Andrea answered. She took a sip of her fruit juice but stopped as she looked over Kurama's shoulder at a guy with a football player like physique.

Sensing that Andrea had stopped moving only caused Kurama to get a little more worried. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

Andrea looked intently around Kurama's shoulder and felt a slight anger rise up inside her. Oh, great... it's him, she thought to herself. When she heard Kurama say her name, she blinked.

"Is something wrong?" Kurama asked her.

Andrea stood up and looked at him. "I'll be right back," she said, walking to the door with her literal game face on.

As Kurama watched her go, he blinked. Wonder what's wrong, he thought to himself.

His Youko answered in his mind, I don't know, but I don't like it.

Andrea had just gotten outside the door of the café when she saw a familiar face and stopped. "Jason?" she said, blinking.

Jason looked at Andrea and smiled charmingly. "Long time no see, babe."

Andrea's eyes narrowed somewhat. "I'm not your babe, remember? We broke up," she answered.

"Really? Is that the way you see it?"

"Yes, that's how I see it, because that's what happened."

Jason's smile remained. "Strange. I saw it differently."

Andrea scoffed, rolling her blue eyes. "Right," she answered.

"I seem to remember you saying you were just taking a walk," Jason said to her.

Andrea's fist shook from beside her. He didn't get it; she broke up with him, so it was over. Yet he still thought he owned her. "I came back here to get away from you... and what you did to me," she said to him.

Jason's voice raised an octave. "I took care of you!"

Andrea's eyes almost blazed with anger. "The hell you did!" she answered back.

Jason decided to calm down. "Andrea, all I'm asking is you come home."

Andrea's blue eyes almost turned indigo. "I'm not going anywhere with you. So, leave me alone." She turned on her heel and started to walk back inside.

Jason darted in front of her and pounded his fist against the brick wall outside. He wasn't letting Andrea go easily. "You're coming with me!"

"No, I'm not!" Andrea thought to go around him to avoid anything else.

Jason grabbed her arm halfway between her elbow and her shoulder. "Don't make a scene."

Andrea whirled around, her bobbed hair almost hitting her lips. "Let go of me!" She tried to pry his hand off of her arm. He had let go but he grabbed her coat. All Andrea did was glare at him.

Meanwhile, Kurama looked at his watch. She's been out a long time, he thought to himself. He looked worried.

(Kurama's Thoughts with Youko)

Youko looked at his human counterpart. "I don't like it," he said.

Kurama shook his head. "Me neither. I feel that perhaps something is wrong."

Youko looked at his human side. "And it's about the lovely girl you were flirting with. I can feel it." After Kurama hit him, he looked like an accordion.

(Back to Reality)

Making up his mind, Kurama stood up and walked outside, where he saw Andrea trying to fend off someone. "Hey!" he called out.

Andrea looked in the direction of the voice. "Shuichi-kun!" she said, remembering to keep his human name in her mind.

Jason looked at "Shuichi." "Just go back inside. This is between her and me," he answered him.

Kurama ignored his remark. "I believe that's my friend you are harassing."

Jason held Andrea by her arm again. "So what?" he answered the redhead. "She's my woman."

Andrea looked at him, anger starting to reach her eyes again. "I'm not your woman! Never have been, never will be, and only when hell freezes over!"

Jason drew back his arm and slapped Andrea hard at her mouth. "When I say you're my woman, you're my woman. You hear me?" he said to her.

Kurama grabbed his shoulder. "I am asking you now, let her go."

Jason held Andrea's arm tighter, making the girl squint her eyes shut. "What are you going to do about it, girly man?" Jason said to him.

Kurama's emerald eyes narrowed. No one was going to assault his friend in front of him and get away with it. "I'm going to put that aside this once, if you let her go right now."

Jason saw that Kurama wasn't going to move in, which made him smile. Jason thought he had the upper hand. "She's my woman, and she's coming with me," he answered him.

"I'm not your woman!" Andrea answered, clocking her ex-boyfriend in the jaw. She couldn't do much with her other arm captive, but it was something.

Jason looked at his defiant "girlfriend." "You ungrateful little..." He grabbed Andrea around her throat and started to choke her.

Kurama grabbed Jason and kneed him in the stomach, which made Jason lose his hold on Andrea, who had now stumbled against the wall, coughing. Kurama saw his chance and lightly grabbed her other arm. He was going to get her out of there. "Come on!"

Andrea felt his hand grab her other arm and was about to say something along the lines of "Look out!" when she started coughing again, slightly shaking from her ordeal.

Kurama looked back and saw that Jason was about to go after him. He clocked his friend's ex hard, which made him stumble back. "Run!" He held one hand to Andrea's back, leading her ahead of him as they ran. After they had run for a few blocks, they stopped where they would be alone. "Are you all right?" he asked her, concerned about what happened.

Andrea held her neck and coughed. From the DDR game to now, she coughed more now than when she had the flu.

When the answer to his question was coughing, Kurama sat the girl on a bench not far from her apartment complex. "Let me see," he said, his voice different from a few minutes ago. When Andrea let the hand that covered her neck drop, he checked it. "Only some minor contusions. You were fortunate it wasn't as serious as it appeared."

Andrea tried to catch her breath. "It..." was all that she could get out before another coughing fit began.

Kurama looked around to see if he was alone. Seeing that he was indeed alone, he reached into his long crimson mane and pulled out a seed. "Here." He looked back at Andrea, who had now brought her hand back to her bruised neck. "It's a healing seed. It'll help with the lack of air."

From what had just happened to her, Andrea was a little stiff. "I don't know if I can move," she said to him.

Kurama nodded. "Can you open your mouth?"

"I'm talking, aren't I?" Andrea asked him, opening her mouth.

Kurama put the seed in her mouth. "Now suck on it for five minutes."

Giving Kurama the "I don't know what you're talking about, but okay" look, Andrea obeyed him and sucked on the seed like it was a cough drop.

Kurama looked around the street again, this time to see if he could sense where her ex-boyfriend was. He's somewhere, he thought to himself, turning back around. No doubt he's waiting for her. But something about him wasn't right. He noticed Andrea's free hand was slightly shaking. "You've faced worse then him, remember? He's nothing."

Andrea looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry I got you involved."

Kurama shook his head, disagreeing with her. "You didn't," he answered. "I got myself involved."

Andrea looked up at Kurama again, slight shock filling her features. Her blue eyes wondered the one word she asked him. "Why?"

Kurama smiled a warm smile, despite the temperature outside. "You're my friend. Why else would I not help you?"

"The way you looked..." Andrea stopped herself. She didn't want to say anything she'd regret. "...Nothing."

Kurama blinked. What was she about to say? What's she not saying? he thought.

(Youko's Thoughts with Kurama)

Youko looked at him. "Were you dropped on your head as a child, Shuichi Minamino?" he asked him. "Why was she flirting with you earlier?"

Kurama gave him a look. "Hey! SOME people may be a hundred years old and an expert at this, but I'm new to this thing here okay!"

Youko looked at the girl on the bench beside him. "Look at the poor thing. She's trying to tell you something... something you might want to hear."

Kurama looked into her soul with his emerald gaze. "She doesn't want to tell me. I'm not forcing her. Let her tell when she feels it's right."

(Andrea's Mental Talk with Conscious)

Andrea hit the walls of her subconscious with her head. "What's wrong with me?" she asked.

Her conscious looked at her blushing form. "You've got a case of boyfriend-itis," she answered.

"I feel like I'm going to faint," Andrea said, about to go out.

"Hey!" Her conscious smacked her. "Stay awake!"

Andrea held her face. "Ouchie!"

(Back to Reality)

Andrea looked at Kurama after a few minutes of silence. "I guess lunch is out of the question," she said, breaking the silence.

Kurama nodded his head. "Yeah. Care to take a rain check?"

Andrea leaned against the back of the bench. "Sure," she answered.

Kurama was relieved she was all right, but still felt that she needed to rest after what she had endured. "I'll walk you to your place if you want," he said, standing to his feet and holding a hand out to help her up.

Andrea nodded her head and took Kurama's hand to stand up. "Thanks," she said. Even then, her mind wandered. What am I supposed to say to him? I can't hurt the guy.

(Andrea's Mental Talk with Subconscious)

Her conscious filed her nails. "Just say you had a great time," she answered.

Andrea looked down. "If I can even talk." The answer made her conscious hit her again. "Ow!" She talked to herself. "What can you tell the person you care about after what's happened?"

(Kurama's Mental Talk with Youko)

Kurama, in the meantime, was looking at Andrea every twenty seconds before they arrived at Andrea's apartment. "She seems hesitant to answer questions. I won't pry into her thoughts."

Youko tapped his chin. "I have an idea: Ask her if you can stay over."

Kurama looked at Youko incredulously. "Are you out of your rocker! I can't ask her that!"

Youko winced. "Ears. It's strictly platonic, okay? I'm not asking you to fall on her. /4/"

Kurama shook his head. "Youko, I can't ask her over."

Youko popped the heel of his hand against his forehead. "I meant you staying at her place, Shuichi."

Kurama was trying not to turn red. "I can't ask that either!"

Youko stuck his finger in his ear. "Ow... any louder, and she'll hear you for sure."

"Youko, you've lived a hundred years, you do the math!"

(Back to Reality)

Andrea blinked, as the silence grew more and more frightening. I'm about to ask the weirdest thing of all...she thought. Aloud, she looked at him. "Uh, Kurama? Would you mind staying over tonight? I...I'll take the couch."

Kurama's eyes widened. What in the... he thought. "Stay over?" Kurama blinked. What did Youko say to her? How did I get into this?

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((How will this situation work out? Will Kurama agree, and to what extent? Find out next chapter.))

Author's Notes:

/1/ Dance Dance Revolution is a dancing game. It's a lot of fun when you're used to it.

/2/ Alvin from "Alvin and the Chipmunks." I loved that show when I was a kid.

/3/ Ogata Megumi's the Japanese voice of the Shuichi version of Kurama. Actually, I love her music. She's wonderful.

/4/ Youko was saying that he wasn't asking Kurama to lay down on her… in that way.

Cece: Well, that was an interesting chapter.

Kurama: If anyone guessed the ex-boyfriend, you were correct.

Cece: Sweets for all! (hands out candy)

Yusuke: RR… and pray she doesn't get TOO hyper.