Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. The original characters are mine.

CHAPTER TWO

Bright and early the next morning, Hiroe was awoken before her alarm sounded by Hinoto who jumped excitedly on the bed. "Wake up, Hiroe! Time for school!" chirped Hinoto.

Hiroe rubbed her eyes and snuggled deeper in the covers. She turned to look at Hinoto blearily. "Well aren't you little miss sunshine. I thought you didn't even want to start school," she moaned.

Hinoto shrugged. "I figured I couldn't get out of it anyway. Plus, I want to check out if there are any cute guys in my new school. Maybe make some girl friends too."

"This isn't a shopping trip, you know. It's school. People go there to study?" grumbled Hiroe grumpily.

"Look who got out on the wrong side of the bed," said Hinoto.

"I'm not even out of bed yet, Hinoto. Actually, I didn't really sleep well last night," admitted Hiroe.

"Something on your mind?" said Hinoto, thinking about their conversation the previous night.

Hiroe shook her head. "Not really. Must be I'm not used to this place yet," she fibbed. In truth, she was plagued with thoughts about Shuuichi Minamino. She mentally scolded herself, Dammit, it's not like you haven't seen a gorgeous guy before. What's the matter with you? You'll probably never see him again so get a grip! There are more important things to think about.

"Anyway, I'm going on ahead. I want to see what the school looks like," said Hinoto.

"You sure are full of surprises this morning. What about breakfast? I could fix something before you go," said Hiroe as she got up and turned off her alarm.

"I'll just grab something from the fridge and eat it on the way. See ya!" Hinoto said. A few moments later, Hiroe heard the front door close.

I guess I should get moving as well so I'd have time to check where my classes are going to be. She took a quick shower and got dressed. When she was done, she checked her bag making sure that all her books and things were there. She went downstairs and ate some cereal before heading to school.

"OK, Room 232 for English, Room 316 for Math…" Hiroe mumbled to herself as she stared at her class schedule. She was so intent on reading the paper in her hand and was oblivious to her surroundings until she bumped into someone causing her to drop her things and lose her balance. She was about to fall flat on her butt when the person she bumped into caught her hand.

"You know, if we keep meeting like this I'll begin to think you're the clumsiest girl alive," said a male voice.

Hiroe instantly recognized the voice and looked up to see none other than Shuuichi Minamino. Hiroe blushed before she could stop herself and stuttered, "I am so sorry, Minamino-san. I wasn't paying attention. Again."

Kurama chuckled. "Shuuichi is fine, Aihara-san. I wasn't really looking where I was going either."

Hiroe smiled, finally getting her composure back. She looked down at their hands which were still clasped together. "If I'm going to call you Shuuichi then please just call me Hiroe. Umm, you can let go of my hand now. I think I'm OK, thanks."

Kurama blushed and quickly let go of Hiroe's hand while mumbling, "Sorry, I kinda forgot I was holding it."

Hiroe giggled. "It's fine, Shuuichi. I'm glad I bumped into you. I don't know anyone here yet so it's nice to see a familiar face."

Kurama bent down and started to pick up the things Hiroe dropped. Seeing this, Hiroe also remembered her stuff and immediately helped out. When Kurama saw Hiroe's class schedule, he picked it up and glanced at it. He grinned. "Well, you'll be seeing a lot more of this familiar face of mine. Seems we have every class together. I go to Meiou too."

"You're kidding."

Kurama shook his head. "Nope, not according to my schedule."

"This is great!" exclaimed Hiroe. She realized she must have sounded too eager and amended, "I mean, at least I won't get lost getting to my classes. If you don't mind my company, that is."

"Why would I mind the company of a pretty girl like you?" asked Kurama.

Hiroe clutched her chest and pretended to have a heart attack. She gasped out, "Help! I'm stuck with a pretty boy slash ladies' man!"

Kurama laughed heartily. "We have ourselves a comic, folks."

Hiroe grinned at this. "I think I ate too much cereal. Sugar high is making me act up."

The two started walking together, chatting along the way. When they neared the school gates, Hiroe stopped when she heard something.

"Do you hear that, Shuuichi?" asked Hiroe.

Kurama sighed heavily and muttered, "Oh no. Here we go. Do you mind stepping aside a little?"

Hiroe looked questioningly at Kurama but did as she was told. Suddenly, a crowd of girls wearing Meiou uniforms came from nowhere and surrounded Kurama, squealing as they did so.

"Good morning, Shuuichi-kun!" the girls practically screamed at him.

"Good morning to you too, everyone," Kurama said while scratching his head.

A gorgeous girl with long blonde hair and black eyes latched onto Kurama's right arm and said, "Shuuichi-kun, will you walk me to class?"

Hiroe stared at the scene before her with growing amusement. Kurama gently eased his arm from the girl's grasp and said, "I can't, Nakashima-san. I'm with someone today."

Michiyo Nakashima pouted. "Oh? Who might that be?"

Kurama pointed to where Hiroe was standing. All the girls turned to Hiroe making her shift uncomfortably. Sensing her discomfort, Kurama pushed through the crowd to get to her and hurriedly said, "If you'll excuse me, we have to get to class. Bye!"

Kurama grabbed Hiroe's hand and ran to the school building while pulling her along. When they were inside, Kurama looked at Hiroe apologetically. "Sorry about that. I kind of used you as an excuse."

Hiroe looked at Kurama amusedly and asked, "I guess I was right about the pretty boy slash ladies' man comment. You're the only one I know besides Hinoto who has his own fan club at school. Does this happen every morning?"

Kurama blushed. "For as long as I can remember. It's not like I enjoy having one. Who's Hinoto?"

"She's my younger sister. She has this group of guys always trailing behind her at our old school. Difference is, she actually likes the attention. Although, come to think of it, I can't understand why you don't enjoy the whole fan club deal. Most guys would kill to have cute girls clamoring for their attention," Hiroe pointed out.

Kurama shrugged, "Well I'm not really like most guys. Not to be rude but I really wish they'd leave me alone. And I don't want you to take this the wrong way but you're one of the very few girls who don't treat me that way."

Hiroe chuckled, "But you only just met me. How do you know I won't eventually join their fan club and go squealing whenever I see your beautiful face?"

Kurama blanched. "You're not serious, are you?"

Hiroe let out a small laugh. "Are you insane? Of course I'm not serious. The day I lose my head over a pretty boy like you will be the day I shoot myself in the head."

Kurama laughed. "I know I should feel insulted but oddly enough it comes as a relief to me. It's probably why I've felt at ease with you ever since we met. You're not like other girls."

Hiroe looked away so Kurama won't see the blush rising to her cheeks. She laughed to cover her nervousness. "I can see why those girls are crazy about you. You sure know the right words to flatter a girl. Careful, I might start believing you if you keep that up."

Kurama just laughed again and the two walked to class, neither one noticing that he never let go of her hand.

Michiyo's eyes narrowed as she stared after Kurama and Hiroe walking inside the school hand in hand.

"Who the hell is she? Some new girl? And how does he know our Shuuichi-sama?" the girls from Kurama's fan club were asking.

Michiyo raised her hand for silence and the girls become quiet.

"As president of Shuuichi-kun's fan club, I can't let this girl steal him away from us. Let's all find out what we can about her," Michiyo said.

The girls nodded and murmured among themselves. Michiyo seethed internally, How dare that hussy make time with my Shuuichi.

She stalked inside the school building, muttering to herself.

Outside Meiou's gates, a tall figure with black hair and dark blue eyes leaned against the wall and watched as Kurama and Hiroe walked away.

So, the legendary thief Youko Kurama has his eyes on Hiroe as well. This will be interesting, he thought.

He walked away, deep in thought when two guys who looked exactly alike from their long, aquamarine hair to their light blue eyes joined him.

"What are you planning, Masahiro?" asked one of the twins.

Masahiro looked at them and said, "Now that Youko Kurama is involved, we have to tread carefully. I don't want to risk anything."

The twins looked at each other and said in unison, "Youko Kurama? How did he get into the picture?"

Masahiro chuckled at this. "Well, it's unfortunate that he and Hiroe have somehow crossed paths but this doesn't change anything. We'll observe how things progress for a while; see if this is nothing more than a brief incident. Hiroe mostly keeps to herself and hopefully this budding friendship never develops. Satoru, Satoshi, I want you to keep an eye on them."

The twins, Satoru and Satoshi, bowed and were gone in a flash. Masahiro continued walking and thought, No one is going to get in my way, not even Kurama. Hiroe is mine.

Hiroe stretched her arms as the lunch bell rang. Kurama, who was seated a few chairs behind Hiroe, glanced at her. He stood up and started to walk towards her when several boys blocked his way.

"Uhh, hi guys. What's up?" Kurama asked.

"Spill the beans, Minamino. Is she your girlfriend?" one of the boys asked.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Kurama said, confused.

The boys looked at him exasperatedly. Another one nudged his head frantically towards Hiroe's direction. A look of understanding crossed Kurama's face which quickly turned to mirth.

"No, she's not my girlfriend. I just met her yesterday at the grocery store," explained Kurama.

They looked at him dubiously, "Then why were the two of you holding hands when you went in the classroom? Come on, Minamino. Just tell us what's up."

Kurama blushed. "Seriously, guys. We're just friends. We were running from Nakashima-san this morning and I just sort of grabbed her hand."

They all nodded understandingly. Another guy said, "That Nakashima sure is persistent. At least she's hot. But damn, she doesn't hold a candle to Aihara. She is just fine! So you're really not her boyfriend?"

Kurama laughed. "Really, I'm not."

Suddenly, the boys all left Kurama and surrounded Hiroe. Kurama crossed his arms over his chest and looked amused.

"Aihara-san, would you do us the honor of eating lunch with us?" the boys said.

Hiroe looked at them and then she spotted Kurama standing near his chair. His eyebrow rose in question and his eyes sparkled with laughter. Her eyes narrowed slightly at him then she said in a voice loud enough for him to hear, "Sorry guys, I can't. I'm eating lunch with Shuuichi."

The boys turned back to glare at Kurama. Before they could react, Hiroe went over to Kurama, grabbed his arm and headed out the door. When they were safely out of earshot Kurama said, "You did that on purpose."

"Did what?" said Hiroe innocently.

"Oh, you know what I mean!"

Hiroe winked at Kurama. "Consider it as payback for what happened with your fan club this morning."

Kurama chuckled. "You're sneaky. Seems as though I'm not the only one with a fan club around here anymore."

Hiroe scoffed at this. Kurama just shook his head. "Well since we're eating lunch together, you want to go outside? We can stay under the tree near the…"

Kurama trailed off as he saw Michiyo walking towards them. He groaned inwardly. Hiroe wondered why Kurama suddenly stopped talking and turned to where he was looking. She whispered to Kurama, "I don't think she's seen us yet. Come on, let's head to the roof." Kurama nodded and the pair ran upstairs.

When they got to the roof, they shut the door behind them. They both leaned back against the door, panting lightly. Hiroe giggled. Kurama looked at her strangely and asked, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing really. I just didn't expect to spend my first day at school running away from crazy fangirls and avoiding guys who want to eat lunch with me. I normally do those things on my second day at school," joked Hiroe.

Kurama chortled. "Well, you better get used to it if you're going to be friends with me. And I better get used to the dagger looks those guys were giving me. I swear if looks could kill…"

Hiroe turned to look at Kurama, surprised. "Friends? Really?"

Kurama shrugged uncomfortably, suddenly unsure of himself. "Aren't we?"

Hiroe smiled, "I guess we are."

At the end of the day, Kurama and Hiroe left school together. When they reached the place where they bumped into each other that morning, Hiroe turned to Kurama and said, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Shuuichi."

Kurama blushed lightly and hurriedly asked, "Do you want me to walk you home?"

Hiroe looked surprised at this then smiled. "I don't want to bother you. It might be out of your way."

Kurama looked down and shuffled his feet, "Right, some other time then." Mentally, he kicked himself. What the hell are you doing, Kurama?

Hiroe waved goodbye. "I'll just meet up with you here tomorrow morning, same time." With that, she turned and left.

Kurama smiled as he stared after Hiroe. When she disappeared from view, he started walking home. A few moments later, he heard the trees rustling behind him. Without turning around he said, "What is it?"

A short guy with spiky black and white hair appeared behind him. "Hn. It figures you'd know I was here."

Kurama finally turned around. "You've been following me since this morning, Hiei. What's up?"

Hiei crossed his arms over his chest. "We have another mission and Botan sent me to get you. But before we go, what's with you and that human?"

"You mean Hiroe?" asked Kurama.

Hiei nodded and Kurama shrugged, "I don't know what you're talking about. I just made friends with her, that's all."

Hiei raised his eyebrow. "That didn't look like just making friends to me. You don't usually go out of your way to socialize because of what we do and who we are. What are you doing, Kurama?"

Kurama looked away and replied, "It's not that big a deal, Hiei."

Hiei turned his back on Kurama. "Hn. Suit yourself. It's none of my business anyway. Just remember what happened with that Maya Kitajima girl you used to be friends with." Then he disappeared.

Kurama heaved a sigh. He's right. I should know better, but there's something about her I can't let go off. Why does she seem so familiar to me? Why am I so drawn to her? I just have to figure it out, he thought.

With these thoughts in mind, he quickly followed after Hiei.

A/N: I think Japanese students take all their subjects in just one classroom but I obviously changed that so screw me. Maya Kitajima is the name of the girl Kurama liked when he first met Hiei. Kurama erased her memories shortly after a demon attack. Read Two Shots, a special story in manga volume 7.