Chapter 1

10 years after wedding

"ETHAN!" BOOM!

The house burst into flames.

She cradled her twins in her arms as Piper ran into the inferno to try and find Ethan. Soon the fire department showed up and ran inside trying to stop the remaining part of the house from going up. They pulled Piper out soon after that. And then there was a motionless body. Piper huddled near her Bond as she stared at the body.

Rexi stared at the house that had been their home since they had moved to Human World. Ethan and she had wanted their children raised in the human world. They looked human. Now where would she live? Ethan was gone and anyone she had known in human world would be busy and have jobs or families of their own. Piper's hand fell to her side where she held two roses—one white and one red.

Rexi grabbed one and pulled a petal all roughly. "Kurama if you can hear me along with this petal, please hurry." She murmured and clutched the rose to her chest as her children stared wide-eyed at the charred remains of their home.

Kurama jerked away, his eyes widening. He shook where he had been taking an afternoon nap. His red hair had stayed the same since the wedding ten years ago. He was a small amount taller than he had been however and had filled out. The twenty-six year old moved from his bedroom and down the hall. That had been the rose he had given Rexi. His heart leapt once more as he thought about her.

"Suichi, where are you heading off too?" came a female voice from behind him on the stairs. He paused and turned back. His girlfriend, Maragret, an American exchange student at his father's company, stood there looking tired. They'd just had a little private time while his parents were out of town and he'd completely forgotten about it.

"Someone just called Margie, I have to go." He told her with a small smile before disappearing into the garage. He grabbed a shirt out of his car's trunk for he'd forgotten to put one on and drove off quickly, following the tug. He'd thought that he would be dragged towards the portal to Demon World but instead he found himself being driven halfway across town. And then he saw it—the burned down house and the fire trucks and the police and the ambulance.

He came screeching to a halt and threw himself out of the car to look around. A policeman stopped him before he could get too near and asked his name.

"Um, Suichi Minamino." He finally stammered out. She couldn't have—There was no way she could have died. "Please, please tell me that Rexi wasn't in that fire. Please." He begged.

"Kurama!"

The officer turned his head as Piper came running up and grabbing Kurama's hand. "Excuse me miss, but he can't—" the police officer said, trying to stop her before she stopped and turned boiling eyes on him. She had grown as well. She had the appearance of a young teenager who was maybe 12 or 13.

"My mother needs Kurama with her now!" the girl growled and continued to drag Kurama with her towards where they were keeping her Bond.

"Mother? Do you mean Rexi? Is she okay?" Kurama asked before he rounded a fire truck and saw her.

She sat on a stretcher, two small children clinging to her legs. She had growl as well. She no longer looked seventeen, but instead a firm twenty five. Her blond hair had been grown to her waist but was charred at the ends. Her brown eyes seemed haunted. Kurama broke from Piper's grip and ran over to Rexi's side, looking from the kids to her face, reaching out to hover over a burn on her cheek.

"Rexi. Rexi?" he asked.

"Koji, Kanna, come here." Piper said, pulling the two small children away so Kurama could get closer to her Bond. "It's okay, he's a friend of your moms." She told the two children who stared up at Kurama with large golden eyes that matched their mothers. Their hair was not blond however but a black.

Rexi, after Kurama asked her name a few more times snapped back to the present and jerked when she saw his face so close to hers. And then she latched herself onto him, burying her face in his clean shirt as her arms clung to him. A police officer came over and broke the two apart though, having questions to ask Rexi. When he saw this new fellow here he got suspicious.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Manfield, I have a few questions about the fire that I need to ask you. And who are you?" he said, looking Suichi over.

"This," Rexi said with a sniff as she tried to stop the tears that had started to come. "is Suichi Minamino. He's an old family friend. I called him. Whatever questions there is you can ask in front of him sir. Piper, please take Koji and Kanna and find them something to do while I speak with the officer."

"I'll take them over to my car." Kurama offered with a smile at her. "I'm sure I can find something in there for them to play with. I'm glad you are okay Rexi. I'll take care of them. Don't worry." With that he knelt down in front of Koji and Kanna. "Okay kids. Let's go see what we can find in my car while your mommy talks to the nice police officer." He ushered the children away and sat them in the back of his car as Piper entertained them with stories of giant butterflies. His eyes locked on the police officer that had started to grill Rexi when Suichi had left.

"I don't know." She told him as he asked if anyone had a grudge against her husband Ethan. "All I know was that we just got home from celebrating our wedding anniversary with the kids and he went into the kitchen while I was about to take the kids up to take their shoes off. Then he yelled at us to get out of the house. So I brought Piper, Koji and Kanna out and then the house just went up in flames." She couldn't very well tell him that there had been a fire demon waiting for them to return.

"And this Suichi, what is your relationship with him?" the police officer asked.

She gasped and got off the stretcher, a look of outrage on her face. "Officer.." she looked at his name badge, "Officer Maxwell! If you are implying that I was unfaithful to my husband you can go screw yourself!" Her voice carried all the way around and everyone stopped their work to stare at the grieving widow. "Suichi Minamino hasn't been in our lives since the wedding! I called him because he's the only one I know who still lives in town. He's the only one I trust to take care of my kids while I deal with idiots like you!"

And with that said she stalked away towards Suichi.

"That was uncalled for." Kurama said when she joined them. He held up a hand and pointed to the officer. "I meant him Rexi. I meant what he suggested." He told her softly.

"Oh if I wasn't so afraid of what would happen with my children I'd sock that obscene, gross, stupid officer!" She snarled and then sighed, smiling at her children who were giggling softly to themselves. "Kurama, I'm sorry, but what I said was true. Everyone else that would understand is… Well off on a mission I believe. We just got back from one really."

"Oh you still work for Koenma?" Kurama asked with surprise.

"Yes. Ethan and I—" She stopped and tried to swallow back the tears that had been pushed back by the anger. "Ethan and I headed a special division that made sure that the tournament for the King of the Makai was fair. In exchange we could raise our children here in the human world." She explained with a small smile.

Kurama chewed on his lip. This would be risky, especially with Margaret and his parents returning that evening. "Do you have a place to stay? Money, clothes?" he asked.

"No. We are going to have to cancel your credit cards Rexi. Or get Koenma to get you new ones." Piper said, joining them outside the care, looking as worn as either of the adults there.

"Come stay at my parents place tonight. The guest bedroom is big enough for the four of you. And then I can see if my step-dad knows of a good place to stay. And I'm sure that my mother would be ecstatic to see you again." Kurama offered.

Rexi chewed on her lip as she thought about it. What else did she have to lose though? Her husband was dead, she had no clothes except those on her back and a friend was offering her a place to stay. "Sure, that would be really kind of you Kurama." She replied as another wave of tears at the thought of Ethan ran through her mind.

Kurama opened the door for her and Piper jumped into the back with the two small kids and buckled them in. "One ride to my house, we go." He said, driving away quickly.