Sure enough, not even an hour later (I think it was an hour…) Sam was poking the back of my neck repeatedly. I knew she was trying to wake me up, I was just trying to ignore her. Getting kicked in the side however when she lost her patience was impossible to ignore. I scrambled to my feet, growling a little.

"Alright, Alright, I'm up, I'm up!"

My darling friend brightly smiled and dragged me into the kitchen with a ridiculously cheery "Good." As expected, even though I'd never get used to it, the Tantei were all sitting together, chatting quietly, as if Sam's awakening ritual hadn't been their idea at all. Like I'd believe that. My best friend wasn't capable of being that treacherous without prompting. Emerald eyes looked up and though my heart skipped a beat, I remained conscious enough to note what was being said.

"Samantha… why did you wake her? I said we still had another half an hour." His eyes met mine, and my heart rate sped up rapidly. Then they flicked away to the clock and it started to return to normal. GAH! This was ridiculous! I HAD to kick this!!

Sam grinned. "Well, if we're lucky, Kassie will be non comatose by that time. If we woke her up right before we left, she wouldn't have time to wake up properly." Or, maybe my best friend WAS capable of that level of treachery. She gets a firm glare from me.

"Hey, I manage to make it to the bus stop on time, even when I get up late."

"Which is most of the time."

"Well, yes, but- MY POINT IS I can wake up in a rush."

"Actually that's just a half an hour adrenaline rush from being late. By the time the adrenaline fades away, you're awake."

I glare. "Now that can't possibly… wait… can that be true?" Sam was nodding enthusiastically, but I pushed past her and got in the fridge for the milk carton. There might have been two glasses worth of milk still in there. I was definitely thirsty after my nap, and I knew that the glasses were all dirty… so, despite my own distaste for such a habit, I unscrewed the cap and took the milk in gulping swigs. In my opinion, it's okay to drink from the carton if you're going to finish it.

Feeling energized, and darn lucky, I grin, glancing at the open trash can. I aimed, I nearly fell over in my exaggerated throwing stance and I SHOT!...Right over the open lid, hitting the wall, and sending the carton flying right back at me.

"EEK!" I hit the ground, and shouted "DUCK!"

"Too late…" Kuwabara laughed. I rolled over onto my back and peered over to the table. The jug was inYusuke's hands now. There wasa splatter of milk on his face. I looked back and there was milk on the wall, and all over the floor. Miraculously, there was none on me… I must be a repellant…

"Ooooopsie.." He lifted the jug as if he was going to throw it. I curled my self up into as small a ball as I could make myself. The plastic bounced off my calf and…right into the trash can. I stare in disbelief.

"No…way… That is just NOT fair."

"What can I say. It's my show." I threw the cap at him, missing his head entirely. It almost hit Kuwabara. I let my head hit the floor with a thud, ignoring the pain. After looking at the patterns on the ceiling for a few minutes, I quietly ask a very serious question.

"So WHAT was SO important that you HAD to WAKE me up, BEFORE I was READY to be AWAKENEDEDED?" Okay, so maybe it wasn't entirely quiet, and I don't think I was quite sane for that last word. But, I think that might actually be…sane for me… Scary.

It was Kurama's voice that answered, which honestly didn't give me any reason to lift my head up, ya know? "You need to go take entrance exams."

"Oh, for Saryashiki? Easy Peasy. I can get in there. Come on, they let Yusuke in."

"Hey!"

"Sorry… but it's true.."

"I'd like to agree with you Kassie-"

"Kass."

Kurama sighed. Yep, all this and I still wouldn't let him call me that. I didn't even like Kasumi calling it. I didn't have a lot of a choice though with her. It was still a name I wasn't comfortable with him using. He called me that too often, I'd start to relax too much. If I were to relax to much, fan girl instincts could kick in, or worse, no fan girl instincts that are also negative. Just better the affection 'ie' was left out…My self control was always in question. Had been since I was…13… How I met Ryan…I shake that memory out quick as a wink.

"Fine. If Kasumi managed to find a way out, Kass, Yusuke and Kuwabara wouldn't be able to contain it. Besides, they aren't at Saryashiki Junior High anymore."

"Where are they then?" I ask.

"That's irrelevant." Nice answer. "In either case, you'll be attending Meiou High, with me and Hiei."

"W-W-W-W-W-W-W-WHAT?" Wait, back up, REWIND! I can't handle that kind of a workload. Meiou was for the SMART people. I just got lucky. Meiou was for the people with intelligences like Yuu Kaito and Kurama. The very idea of me going there made me want to laugh. Unfortunately, when you listen to the serious fox say it, it's hard to laugh. "Hooooold on a sec. I'm not gonna be able to pass that test. I'm average by American standards. That makes me BELOW average in Japanese standards. That school is for ABOVE average students. The only thing I'm ABOVE average in is NERDINESS."

"And airheadedness!" My adorable best friend piped in. I add the adorable part to remind me why I don't strangle her. Or try.

"Sadly, Yes. See why I won't cut it in that school? What on earth possesses you to think I can handle-"

"Kasumi."

"Oh yeah, that'd do it…" My argument was officially blocked on every hand. I sigh annoyed. "But still I can't- Wait, did you say you AND Hiei?" More than bit belated but it kinda just hit me he said that.

"Yes, Hiei and myself. Insurance, because if hiei blows his cover it's a lot less paperwork for Koenma than if I do.And, probably a few other reasons." I blink at him. He doesn't meet my eyes, instead he's looking at Hiei, who just looks back. Lately, they weren't letting me on conversations.

"Hey! Say it so the rest of us can hear it!"

That snapped them out of it. Yusuke found my freaking out amusing, and thought it'd be fun to point something out to me. "You know, I'm sure if you're having problems the fox here could tut-"

"If you say tutoring, I'll throw something at you."

"You already tried that, Kassssssssie."

Point taken. But I wasn't letting HIM know that. "Fine, I'll have SAM throw it." that shut him up. Samantha Kaos always hit her mark. As for Sam, she was standing behind Hiei, poking at his hair. Yes, poking. Then the poking turned to stroking, and I didn't have the heart or courage to tell her to stop. The heart because that's the first time Hiei had let her get close to him since the 'pink' episode. The courage because his eyes were closed and if he was enjoying it, I wasn't going to be the one to stop it.

I did still value life.

Even I was about to go embarrass myself on a test.

Did it ever cross my mind to tell him 'No?' Not in the least. I'd NEVER told him no in the past, and I didn't intend to in the future. This is probably not a good thing. With the exception of that one time that I slapped (I hate saying it even now) him, (and regretted it later…it led to me getting kidnapped… YUCKY!) I don't think I ever acted very much against him…

As I learned, bad things happened when I did, so I'm not all that inclined to do so, ya know? Yeah..I was going to have to go take the test. It never really crossed my mind to say no.

That's why now, fifteen minutes later, I was being prodded inside an office, right alongside Hiei. It made me feel a little better that I wasn't alone in this. I entertained myself by staring at the posters on the wall. Duh, they were in Japanese. I prodded Kasumi for a translation. She looked out.

Enjoy your drugs, Don't worry about protection, Love your neighbor…

By the time Kurama came back, my eyes were glued in shock to the innocent looking characters. No way! No way anyone could leave notices like that on the SCHOOL BOARD!

"Kassandra what's wrong?"

"Shuuichi…what do those things say?" He stared at the things and blinked. "Don't do drugs, Abstinence, Please no Public displays of affection in the halls. Why?"

My eyes formed a glare and aimed it at the ceiling. He followed the gaze for a moment and then sighed, leaning closer to whisper. "Tell her to translate right, or else." I repress a shiver from the whisper, and calm my heart- again. How horrible. I hate this…but I love it. Oh, what to do?

Now, you ignore him, like all us more experienced women do…

So you qualify as experienced?

Sweetheart, I am several centuries old. I am experienced, in more ways than you might think, alright? Just accept it.

Fine. I ended the conversation there, just as Kurama placed a paper in my hand and started to push me into the room. I was about to step through, when he stopped and turned me around again, slipping a pencil affectionately behind my ear. I knew my cheeks turned bright red, I was sure with how close his hand was to my cheek, he could feel the heat emanating from it. My eyes met his for a brief moment. I truly couldn't see anything but emerald.

I was very aware of the proximity he was in from pushing me into the room. I hadn't realized how easy it'd be to…

Test, Kassie…Focus Kassie. KASSIE!

Hmm? Oh well that did it. I turned even brighter and hurried to the table. Of course, one glance at the paper told me I desperately needed the help of the cat demon in my head. Kasumi...I can't read… this.

Oh… yeah… Fine. First Question…If the square root of 69 is 4.1, then the following equation is…

Oh yuck, math… Luckily, I got to English eventually. After several promptings from Kasumi on the track my train of thought was on, (it kept wanting to derail, with a certain fox at the switch) I finally managed to finish it, tucking the pencil back behind my ear. (it felt right there..) and then I slipped out of the room, handing the paper off to the secretary, and out of the building as fast as possible.

Of course, I had no sooner gotten out on the street than I was completely totally lost. The others were still doing something inside. Kasumi smirked inside and laughed.

Lets go left, Kassie. I remember how to get home…

Sounded good to me anyway. I obey her directions, one after the other. They end up with me in some kind of alley. Sudden flashbacks plague my memory. The last time I was in an alley….I close my eyes.

Ryan, one horrible mistake from a time in my life I'd like to re do if I could, and his thugs…Hemmed in...escaping up…cold minutes with the Floridian wind suddenly bitter and rushing around with no end…Stubborness on my part…Getting me in trouble…Yukio's icy touch as he tore me away from safety… Later, that same ice though Kasumi was in control… Safety tore away again, by that same bitter cold… Chilly fingers working their way up to try to remove the only thing holding that black and blue monstrosity up… My pleases falling on deaf ears…A living creature burning to ash within inches of me….the smell… sulfur and melting water…

Kassie…Kassie…KASSIE! Someone's here!

That got me out of it. In an instant, I was on heavy guard. My eyes were open and looking everywhere. I couldn't see anyone, but Kasumi was normally right about these things. Indeed after a few minutes of franticly searching the alley for movement, what I'd taken for a shadow moved. And not a small bit. It emerged into semi light, casting a glance up at the sun.

"You know, mice shouldn't play around the cats. It tends to get them in trouble. Wouldn't want to get caught, now would we?"

I gulped, backing up a little more toward the wall. Better to make sure I had at least one side covered. the voice was male, and sadly, it seemed amused by my reaction. I could see his eyes clearly in the shadows, other than that, only his dark trench coat. His eyes locked onto mine, and a smirk seemed to shine in his voice.

Kassie, you're cornering yourself!

"Now, Now, Kassie… Don't fret. I promise… it won't hurt for very long. I'm very fast when I'm in a mood like this."

Kassie… run!

I wanted to obey, but I couldn't. Blue eyes were entrancing. I couldn't look away, even though I wanted to.

"Come here." I couldn't refuse the voice. I took a few steps toward him, into the semi light. It wasn't very long before I realized my back was now against the wall again, much more firmly than I'd had it. Cold fingers brushed my hair away from my neck. Cold crept closer and closer to my now exposed neck. The only thing I could do was whimper, and even that was stolen with a brisk and commanding "Shh." I was trembling, out of sheer fear, my eyes squeezed shut.

No…not more cold…I couldn't take more of this cold. What, did I have an 'ATTACK ME' sign on my head? How did I get myself into trouble like this. I didn't blame Kasumi though I could have. She seemed to be shouting something, but I was too busy cowering to pay attention to what.

I heard a snap, and a hiss of air that hit my neck hard. The arms that'd been supporting me had released and I fell to the ground in a heap. I didn't hear anything else until a soft voice was whispering in my ear, comforting words. "Kassie… It's alright…he's gone… he won't fight in the light." Another voice murmured quietly. "Of course, come night there might be a problem."

"No, he won't come after her. She was a meal of convenience nothing more. Kass… come on, everything's okay…what possessed you to run off? Why didn't you wait for us."

Quietly, and a bit distractedly, I murmur "Kasumi…said she knew…the …way…home…"

"Well, her way home could have gotten you killed." That was Hiei… Hiei…was showing concern…I almost laughed. If I hadn't felt so…fuzzy…. Sam was laughing..no one else laughed like that. Kasumi sighed.

Next time, we don't leave the house without a switchative. I knew exactly how to handle what I'd gotten us into…

Riiiiight…I thought with a sigh. "Can we…go home…I'm sleepy…again… …"

I felt sturdy arms holding me up. Wrapping me up closely, I felt totally safe. For the first time… funny, how I had to be scared to death (again) before I could feel that. I wasn't sure who it was. I did know, I wouldn't be hurt ,at least not in the near future.

I let sleep edge in on my vision. I had no reason to fight it. I was safe, at least for the moment. I wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but I was sure it would all be made known unto me…eventually.

No, this wasn't a random attack, it has a purpose, I promise…