The Blood Red Rose

Chapter Four: Day Two, er, Life Sucks

Tuesday morning came far too quickly for Kurama's liking. Still tired and sore, he awoke to the 'cheerful' shrieking of small birds. Always preferring the night, this fox demon was never a morning person.

The one thing, well two things, that kept him here was his mother who was, bless her soul, cooking a delightful breakfast at this moment. (He always went days at a time without food back as his days as Yoko. Both him and his partner were useless in the kitchen.) The other reason was Koenma. But, of course, he didn't count.

He sat up, groaning. His muscles were even more sore. Maya Kitajima was far from his mind this morning. Following the same routine as he did yesterday, he stumbled into the bathroom and cleaned and rebandaged his arm. Once again forgetting his leg, he staggered back, cursing silently in the demon dialect.

Maya awoke bright and early just when the delightfully cute birds began their joyful singing. With a smile on her face, she got dressed and ready for school. Then, she skipped down the stairs and entered the kitchen where she proceeded to make breakfast for her parents. Watching the sun rise higher and higher into the sky made her day as she gazed out the kitchen window.

Today started out wonderful, but it would end horribly. Detention was not high on her to do list for the day. Pushing the thoughts out of her head, she presented her groggy parents a breakfast feast to remember.

Kurama thanked his mother for the wonderful breakfast she made, like he does everyday. His eyes fell on the scars on her arm. Everyday this happened and a pang of guilt hit him hard in the chest.

Today, he left the house on time. His step father always drove Shuichi, his younger step brother, to school because it was so far. As he watched them pull away from the driveway, something caught his eye that made him choke on his toast. Maya Kitajima exited the house right next door to theirs. He ducked down and crawled along the hedges, pounding his chest every so often. He immediately dove under the garage door as it was closing.

He breathed the dark, musty air heavily. He saw the for sale sign posted for months now. He even heard the real estate agent say the house was a lost cause. So, when did they buy the house, and without his knowing? He closed his eyes, realizing that he hadn't been home at all this past weekend. That had to be when they moved in.

Being careful not to trip over anything, he found the door that connected the kitchen and the garage. His mother looked at him, surprised.

"Shuichi, why did you come back inside through the garage?" she asked calmly. She watched as he took a piece of a cobweb out of his hair.

"Well, you see, Mother..." Kurama paused, trying to think of something. Lamely, he added, "I don't know."

She chuckled. "I think your step brother is rubbing off on you." She wiped a dish dry with a towel. "By the way, do you remember the Kitajimas? Of course you do. Their daughter Maya went to middle school with you. Well, anyway, they moved back here. They live next door as a matter of fact."

"Yes, actually she transferred to...my school," replied Kurama hesitantly.

"Oh, that's wonderful. You see, I invited them to dinner tonight at 7 as a welcome back thing," said Shiori, conversationally.

All the color drained away from Kurama's face. Upon seeing his son's face become so pale, Shiori became worried. "Is everything okay?"

"Y-yes," he said.

"Are you sure? You've become so sickly looking since you came back from your last camping trip with your friends."

"I think I just caught a cold. Nothing to worry about," said Kurama, brushing it off. He sneezed to make it look genuine, but it wasn't on purpose. Myabe he did catch a cold...

Shiori looked almost hesitant in believing her son was sick. Slowly she said, "Alright, just don't overexert yourself. I don't want you getting worse."

"As I said, nothing to worry about. Now, I better get going or I'll be late. Good bye, Mother."

Kurama left the house rather quickly. Now that his mother told him directly, there was no way to skip without hurting her feelings. When arriving at school, he didn't see Maya at all, but all that would change once he stepped into history, and that time came rather quickly.

Maya was early for her history class today. She didn't want to leave the teacher with anymore bad impressions. She straightened out her skirt as she waited patiently for the bell to ring. She didn't even socialize with the other students because the teacher was keeping a watchful eye on her. She fidgeted under his gaze.

Shuichi entered the class abruptly, out of breath. He made it into last remaing seat just moments before the bell rang. They sat in the same seats as yesterday. The teacher cleared his throat as a way to quiet the class. It worked.

He turned and wrote the following words on the board: Group Project. Most students were excited. For some people, it meant an easy A by letting their partner do all the work, or, for the girls, it meant a chance to work with Shuichi.

Maya was nervous about it. She hoped she didn't have to work with any of her other classmates. She didn't know any of them, and they didn't make an effort to introduce themselves to her either. She only wanted to work with Shuichi since they were friends for a long time now.

The teacher explained the project, saying it only required two people and they had a choice of a topic on a sheet of paper which he passed out. It was a list of the various wars that took place involving Japan and various other wars that were important points throughout the world history.

"You will have the option of picking any topic from the paper I just passed out. It also gives a list of points to cover in your project. I will be assigning partners and it's due this Friday." The students groaned at this announcement. He began naming off random pairs. His finger slid down the page. "Minamino and Kitajima. My two delinquents."

Maya felt warm under the glare of one specific girl. She always knew that Shuichi was popular with the female population, but it had seemed to grow just like his hair. She looked over at her partner who looked completely passive. Did he consider her to be just another of his admirers?

Kurama wanted to slide down and disappear from the classroom as soon as the teacher announced a group project. Group projects meant getting paired up with one of his admirers, specifically Megumi. He was paired up with her once before. It wasn't the best expierence.

His eyes quickly scanned the list. It was a basic project, but the workload did require more than one person. If there was only an odd number of students in the class, then Kurama could probably convince him to work alone. And to make matters worse, they weren't allowed to pick their own partners. There went his back up plan...

"Minamino and Kitajima. My two delinquents."

Kurama bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from protesting. Personally, he didn't have any sort of problem with Maya. She was probably the only girl outside of Spirit World that didn't hang out with him for the sake of being around him. But, sadly, he feared being near her in case her memory came back. Back in middle school, it was much easier to erase her memories. He feared that this time he wouldn't be able to it.

Maya likes Shuichi...

He rubbed his temples as another headache made its presence known. This had been happening more and more frequently. And the voice...It was familiar, but it wasn't his own thoughts. Something inside of him had begun changing since the finals of the Dark Tournament.

History passed by without any incidents. Maya put her shoes back on as she changed from P.E. Folding her gym clothes neatly, she placed them back into her locker. The locker room was relatively crowded. Few girls were swapping perfumes and other body sprays. Since break was right after gym, many girls had decided to shower.

Taking a fleeting glance in the mirror, she walked towards the exit. But, someone placed her hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Megumi, a girl who was also in her history class.

"Hello," said Maya meekly.

"Look, I know what you're planning," she said fiercely.

"I'm sorry, I don't follow."

"Shuichi. What makes you think that he'll pay any attention to you? You've only been here for two days and he's spent more time with you than me!"

Maya noticed that several girls were completely ignoring Megumi's outburst. Maybe this was a regular occurence? She gulped, gazing into her eyes. Maya gathered the courage to stand up to her. She might as well change herself from the meek and quiet Maya to a more assertive Maya.

"First of all, Shuichi and I have been friends since elementary school. I did not plan to have detention with him to 'steal' him away from you. I didn't even know he was coming here. Frankly, we lost touch after I moved." Maya's voice was gradually rising. "Second of all, the partners for the history project were assigned. I didn't secrely plot to be partnered with him."

The other girls in the locker room were chuckling quietly to themselves. A few were muffling their laughter using their gym clothes. Megumi was still unconvinced. Although a light tint of pink was on her cheeks from embarrassment. She opened her mouth to protest when Maya interrupted her by grabbing her bag and storming out.

The building was relatively empty since most people were enjoying their break outside. She slumped down against a wall, covering her face with her hands. She was so embarrassed and shocked at herself. Where did this rude and loud Maya come from? She was never like this before. She remembered a time when she was a sweet tempered girl that everyone enjoyed talking to. High school changed everything. She wasn't sure she even belonged here anymore.

CrazyDreamerGirl: Ah, yes, jealousy is very ugly. It's the little lesson learned from this chapter. Thank you LoveAnime18, Darkside5454, and Arthuria for reviewing. Please review and no flames.