Snow fell softly over the large city in Japan. In a private high school sat a girl with short, choppy light brown hair; her long bangs hung over one side of her face, covering one of her blue eyes. Her name was Momoko Kirijo. She watched the slow falling snow, thinking back to the last winter. It was the first winter she had spent without her childhood friend Shuichi Minamino. They had been friends since they were seven, until last year during the fall when Shuichi had told her he thought they should stay away from each other. When she had asked him why his only response was "People may get the wrong idea about us." Those words felt like a dagger to her heart. Since then, Momoko stayed away from him.
A couple girls giggled loudly from the other side of the room, catching the brunettes attention. Her eyes turned from the snow outside to the giggling girls that stood in front of the desk of a boy with long red hair. Shuichi smiled at the girls, handing the work book back to them. There was no denying Shuichi was a good looking guy. His long red hair fell down his back, his green eyes were the shade of emeralds, and his smile... Momoko quickly turned her head, trying to ignore the feeling of her heart skipping beats when she thought of his smile.
He's just a player. She told herself, turning her attention back to the falling snow.
Kurama, who was known to humans as Shuichi Minamino, glanced at the small brunette that was watching the snow. Momoko had been a close friend of his until a little over a year ago. He regretted it, but he had to do what he could to protect her. After all, he wasn't nearly as close to Maya as he was to Momoko, but that didn't stop the demon Eight Hands from kidnapping her. He felt lucky that nothing had happened to Momoko with all the time they had spent together. Though Kurama would be lying if he said he still didn't worry about her. Since he had ended contact with her, she soon started acting strangely. She used to have long hair that she kept out of her face, she was happy, out going, and was always laughing. But now, Momoko always kept half her face covered, she missed school often, she distanced herself from everyone, and she rarely spoke in class. He wondered if his actions had caused the change in her personality. Or could it have something to do with her mother getting remarried?
"Calm down class." The teacher said as she stood at the desk in front of the class, "Now I'm going to pair you in groups of two for our next project. When I call your names I want you to go sit with your partner."
The class buzzed quietly with chatter, questions of what the project could be.
"Settle down," The teacher said as she looked at her planner, "Now our first pairing is Shuichi Minamino-" There was an outburst of girls volunteering to be his partner, the teacher cleared her throat, "Shuichi Minamino and Momoko Kirijo."
Kurama and Momoko looked at each other in surprise as the volunteering girls whined. Kurama flashed a nervous smile at her as she fought the urge to blush and stuck her tongue out at him before turning her attention back to the window. Kurama blinked for a moment, realizing what had just happened. He fought the urge to laugh, remembering a day when they were younger when she had stuck her tongue out at him and he grabbed her tongue. It was one of the things he had liked about her. She didn't swoon over him, she didn't pretend not to understand something just to talk to him, she was always herself around him.
When the teacher had finished calling out names he got up and took the seat in front of her.
"I guess I should feel honored that the great Shuichi is gracing me with his presence." She said coldly as she turned her attention to him.
"Y-you're still mad." He said nervously.
"No duh!" She spat, "You tell me we can't hang out anymore cause it's giving people the wrong idea and here it is a year later and you're still not dating anyone. If I bugged you that much you should have just said so."
"It wasn't that Momo-chan--"
"Don't call me that!" She growled.
Kurama's frowned as he stared at her. Momoko sighed and looked away.
"Why do you keep your hair in your face now?" Kurama asked as he started to brush her hair out of her face.
Momoko quickly smacked his hand away, "Don't. Just... Just don't do that." She said quietly as she brushed her hair back over her face.
Kurama looked at her in confusion as the teacher began walking around the room, placing an egg on each groups desk. The two looked at the egg curiously. Once all the eggs were passed out, the teacher took her place at the front of the class again.
"Congratulations class, you are now the proud parents of this egg." She smiled, "Class is almost over so I want you all to go home and determine the genetics, appearance, and if you would like, name your egg. You will be responsible for the life of this egg over the weekend. Those who return the egg in tact will get full credit while those who return with just the paper work will get partial credit. Now before you leave I want everyone to grab one of these packets."
The bell rang and the class erupted with chatter about the project and various other subjects.
"Do you want to work on this at your house?" Kurama asked, "It's been a while since I've seen your mom. You have a step dad now too, right?"
"Um m-my place isn't such a good idea." Momoko said as she looked around nervously, "L-lets go to your place."
"Momoko, is everything okay?" Kurama asked as he looked at her with concern.
"I'm fine. Everything's fine." She said as she forced a smile.
"You just seem really different." He said, not believing her smile.
"Well a lot can happen in a year." Momoko said as she gathered her things and picked up the egg. "Can you get the packets?"
The walk to Kurama's house was filled with awkward silence as the two walked through the snow. Momoko shivered slightly, hugging herself through her coat.
"Why do girls have to wear skirts in the winter?" She asked, referring to the uniforms, "It's like they want us to get sick!"
"Its just another block." Kurama said with a smile as he looked at her, "I still live in the same place."
"C-can I ask you something Shuichi?" Momoko said as she stared at the snow covered ground.
"Sure." Kurama said as he continued to watch her.
She stayed quiet until they were in front of his house. She finally worked up the nerve to ask the question she had wondered for a whole year.
"Why did you really break contact with me?" She asked, stopping and looking up at him with sad eyes.
"I, um..." Kurama looked away, unsure of what to say. He wanted to tell her the truth, but he was sure she would think he was crazy, "I'll explain everything later, okay? Lets get warm first."
He lead the way into the house, trying to think of something he could tell her. Shori, Kurama's mother was sitting on the couch reading a magazine as the two walked in. She looked up and smiled brightly.
"Momo-chan? Is that you?" She quickly got up and walked over to the door where the two teens were taking their shoes off.
"Hello Shori-san." Momoko said with a smile as she unzipped her coat.
"Oh Momo-chan it's been so long since I've seen you over here!" Shori exclaimed as her son took the girls coat for her.
"Yea, sorry about that." Momoko said as she returned the hug the woman gave her.
"Why do you have your hair hanging in that pretty face of yours?" Shori asked as she brushed the hair out of her face, revealing a large bruise that covered her eye and part of her face.
Shori gasped as Momoko quickly turned her head and covered her face with her hair again. Kurama stared at her, eyes wide when he saw the bruise.
"Momo-chan, where did you get that bruise from?!" Shori exclaimed, trying to get another look at the bruise.
Momoko backed away, brushing her hair down as she replied, "I-I just got in a fight was all. It's nothing. Shuichi we should probably start that project."
"I..." Shori watched her with a worried expression, "You kids go on upstairs, I'll bring some snacks and drinks up to your room Shuichi."
Kurama looked at Momoko with a concerned expression, Is she really fighting? He hesitated for a moment, then lead the way up to his room. Kurama opened the door to find a boy with spiked black hair and red eyes sitting by his window. Before he could react or think of something to tell Momoko, she had seen the boy.
"Hiei?" She looked at the black haired boy curiously, "What are you doing here?"
Kurama looked at her in confusion as Hiei looked from Momoko to Kurama.
"You know him?" Kurama asked, his confusion growing.
"I didn't know you and Kurama knew each other." Hiei said as he stood up.
"Who's Kurama?" Momoko looked at him curiously.
"You're standing next to him." Hiei answered dryly.
"How do you know Hiei?" Kurama asked the brunette again, wondering what would connect the two of them together.
"Why is he calling you Kurama, Shuichi?" Momoko asked, turning her attention to him.
"It's his name." Hiei said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
The three looked around at each other in confusion as Kurama realized he would have to tell Momoko everything.
