Kat stayed in bed for a long time the next morning after she woke up. She wished she could just skip work and sleep through the whole day. Everything lately seemed to be weighing down on her all of a sudden; moving to a new place where she didn't know anyone, school, work… her apartment being broken into. Everything was moving so quickly compared to the last five years of her life.

Or was it that things were finally moving at all?

She'd been like a rock in a riverbed since the accident- stuck, while everything around her flowed by. She just hadn't noticed it until now, when she was finally dislodged and had started moving downriver with everyone else. It had seemed exciting at first, but now that she was here, away from everything familiar, she really just felt isolated.

Coming to this realization, Kat shook her head and sat up in bed. "You're just homesick," she told herself. "You just need more time." She resolved then to handle all the weight on her the same way she handled most upsets in her life-by ignoring it.

She threw the covers over and stood up, stretching her limbs to work out all the kinks. Digging through her dirty-but-still-wearable pile of clothes, she found a comfy pair of jeans and a camisole to wear. She ran a brush through her mane of hair and left it down. Despite going to bed with it still wet, the waves in it were in some semblance of control. After a quick look in the full length mirror on the back of her door, she nodded her approval and headed into the living room. Not sure if she was ready to face her bathroom yet, she moved quickly past the closed door while trying not to look at it.

Not having her kitchen put together all the way yet meant she hadn't gotten groceries. Since they'd moved in last week, she and Beth had been on a steady diet of various takeout. This morning would be no different. She slipped into her shoes, grabbed her keys, and started the short walk to a deli down the block from her.

It was before ten but the temperature outside was already in the 90's. The sun beat down on her as she walked, and as she stopped at a crosswalk before the walk sign was lit, she closed her eyes and turned her face up to catch all the warmth it offered. Even after such a short time, her skin was a few shades darker than she was used to. She thought it looked pretty good, actually. Natural and healthy.

On the way back from the bakery, movement from an alley caught her eye as she was walking past its opening. She turned her head to look just as the tiniest black kitten was stumbling toward her. She stopped dead in her tracks and sucked in a breath and held it, trying to keep from making any sudden movements. She knelt down and reached her hand out, making little kissy sounds, and the little kitty ran straight to her. It sniffed her fingers cautiously for a moment before nuzzling its head into her palm.

"You are so precious!" she squealed as quietly as she could, not wanting to scare the little guy. She petted the kitten gently. It couldn't have been more than a few weeks old. She glanced around the alley quickly, searching for a mama cat, but it seemed to be alone. While she was distracted, the kitten leaped up into her lap, none-too-gracefully, and pressed into Kat's stomach. When it started purring, Kat thought her heart was going to break.

"Well," she said to the kitten. "Looks like you're coming home with me." Kat gently cradled the tiny bundle in one arm and carried her food in the other.

Once she was through the door to her apartment, she set the kitten down and dug into her bag of food, tearing a tiny piece of sausage from her sandwich and offering it on her open palm. It stared at her a moment with big green eyes, unsure if it was a trick, before tentatively taking the food and nibbling at it from the floor. Upon further inspection, Kat noticed it was a girl and got to work on naming her.

"You look like a… Phoebe." Phoebe looked up from her sausage briefly, and Kat knew that was going to be it.

"My sister is going to freak out," she said to the kitten, glad to have someone to talk out loud to without sounding too crazy.

She spent the rest of the morning kitten proofing the apartment as best she could, even leaving for a bit to get food and litter for her new roommate. Phoebe seemed perfectly content to make herself at home on the couch and watch. Any tension from the previous night was promptly forgotten. This little turn of fate was just what she'd needed.

That afternoon she had to work, and though she didn't want to leave her new little friend alone for long, she couldn't afford not to go. Beth had left for classes before she'd gotten up, but was bound to be back in the afternoon. Kat snapped a picture of their new room mate and sent it to her sister so it wouldn't be such a shock when she got home and found her.

When she got to work, she was actually in a great mood. It was a slow day, just a few regular customers. When someone asked her how she was doing, she didn't even think to mention that she'd nearly been murdered the night before. A shipment came in and she was in the back room putting bottles away on a shelf, the mindless work allowing her thought to go over the previous night with a clearer head.

While the strange man had her pinned to the wall, she'd had enough sense to look for details. The first thing she'd noticed, besides the katana, was his eyes. They had been ruby red. She thought she must have imagined that out of stress or just remembered wrong, but thinking back they were definitely a deep scarlet. Then there were his odd clothes, a black sleeveless tunic tucked into loose black pants with a couple white belts around his waist. He was a little short, several inches shorter than her, but his jet black hair was standing straight up except a few stray pieces, adding a few inches. Kat wondered briefly how much gel that required.

It seemed odd that even though he was obviously not in his right mind to be breaking into women's apartments and threatening them with swords, he had taken the time to do his hair. And what was with the questions he was asking? What are you? What was that supposed to mean?

She shook her head at the absurdity of it all, and decided to forget it. The police would surely find him, and he wouldn't bother anyone else.

Trying to keep her mood light, she starting thinking about just before the break in, and how good it felt to sing again. It was like she'd never stopped, it felt so natural. Like coming home. Since the accident she hadn't sung a single syllable, even gave up humming. It was too painful to feel all the things the music would bring out of her, so she just bottled up her voice and kept it inside. But last night it had just come out, and it was liberating. Maybe now, in a new place and no reminders of all the bad, she could finally it go. She certainly hadn't felt like falling apart when she was singing this time. Maybe she could have this part of her life back, after all.

As if to test the waters, one of her old go-to shower songs came to mind, and she hummed out the first few notes before softly putting sound to the words.

"Now you say you're lonely,

You cry the long night through.

Well you can cry me a river,

cry me a river.

I cried a river over you."

Her voice was smooth and low as she sang one her favorites, a jazz standard that she'd learned as a teenager. She had always loved the sultry tone of the song, and felt sexy as she sang it now to herself, even as she was just putting bottles on the shelf.

"Now you say you're sorry,

for being so untrue.

Well you can cry me a river,

cry me a river.

I cried a river over you."

A middle aged man sitting at the bar nursing a glass of whisky could just hear the cute bartender singing from the back. He recognized the song, and her voice was definitely pleasing. He was straining to hear her better when a sudden rush of emotion crashed into him, and even though he had nothing to cry about really, he started sobbing uncontrollably.

The sound of crying startled Kat and she rushed out to front where, even more startling still there was a man who couldn't seem to stop blubbering.

"Are you okay?" she asked dumbly, when obviously he wasn't.

"I-I... I'm f-fine!" he exclaimed between sobs. Kat stared at him a moment, then grabbed his still-full drink off the counter and poured it out.

"I think you've had enough, buddy..." He didn't argue, but he was starting to calm down. Kat went back to the back room to finish putting the week's order away. The whole world is going nuts, she thought to herself.

123456789

Across the street from the bar, Hiei sat on a rooftop with his back against the ledge, facing away from the girl's place of work. He had decided to keep an eye on her for a while longer before getting back to Kurama. He'd never admit it, but after the previous night, Hiei' was frustrated to no end. How could a human like her have these powers and not even know it? Because it was obvious that she had no clue. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't get into her mind.

Denied access to her mind still, he decided to watch through the man at the bar. She was in a back room, out of view, but the second she started singing it was like he was right there nxt to her. Hiei listened, tense, as her voice surrounded the poor guy and reduced him to a bumbling mess. He chuckled at the poor fool's confusion and backed out of his mind. He wasn't close enough for her power to reach him this time, he figured as he hadn't been affected at all. Not that he would have ever cried, even if he'd been subject to a direct hit from her powerful voice. He recalled the night before, and that as soon as he knew what was happening to him he was able to break the spell. He'd have to experiment more, but he was fairly certain he would be able to maintain control moving forward.

He quickly scanned the area for any danger before moving off toward Kurama's house. He was surprised the fox hadn't asked him for information yet. He must have guessed that Hiei wouldn't bother reporting in if there wasn't anything good to report.

Kurama was home when he came in through an ever-open window. He looked up from a book he was reading in the living room when he heard his friend come in. The results of his little mission must have been particularly juicy if Hiei hadn't bothered coming home last night, and now he was here in person in the middle of the day.

"Hello, Hiei," he greeted with a small smile. He put the book down on the coffee table in front of him as Hiei stopped several paces away, hands hidden beneath his cloak. He looked bored as ever, but Kurama was sure he had news about the girl.

"She's a siren," he said bluntly in response, straight to the point.

"A siren," Kurama repeated, taken aback. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but this wasn't it.

Hiei crossed his arms over his chest, smirking at the fox's confusion. "And she doesn't seem to know it."

"This is..." Kurama struggled for a moment for words. "Unexpected," he finished with a light chuckle. "More confusing still, is that she is definitely human. Sirens, which supposedly died out centuries ago, were demon."

"Hn," Hiei agreed silently.

Kurama ran a hand through his crimson locks, sighing to himself. He'd hoped Hiei wouldn't find out anything interesting and that he could just let it go if there was nothing to bait his curiosity. But this certainly was not nothing, especially if the girl somehow wasn't aware of her powers. That could be dangerous, if she was unleashing that kind of energy unwittingly. This was cause for some action, he decided.

Hiei, having done his job, nodded to his friend in place of a goodbye and took his leave. He wasn't really sure why, but he felt the need to stay close to the strange, stupid human. Just in case she did something dangerous with those powers of hers, he told himself. He wanted to at least be there to watch.

123456789

Kat was starting to get a really weird vibe from her professor.

All throughout class on Thursday, though she was doing her best to listen and keep her head down while taking notes, she could swear he was watching her. When she'd work up enough courage to glance up at him, he'd be looking elsewhere, but she could feel his eyes on her. More than once she would shake her head at herself, thinking she was just being paranoid. So much weird stuff was happening lately, it was like she was expecting it now.

By the time class was over, she had nearly convinced herself that she was imagining things. But as she gathered her things and went to stand up, he was right there next to her, smiling at her politely. Kat started, then laughed nervously at herself.

"Sorry," she said, hand over her wildly beating heart. "You startled me!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said with a small chuckle. "I just wanted to introduce myself properly. I'd like to get to know the students more, but I seem to have added too much to the lessons and don't seem to have the time during class." His smile was meant to disarm her, she knew, but it set her on edge even more. She glanced around as she stood from her seat finally, hoping that none of the girls was seeing this. The last thing she needed was a bunch of jealous sorority girls on her case.

He extended his right hand to her. "Kurama. And you are?"

Reflexively she took his hand and shook it, quickly letting go. "I'm Kat," she said, smiling back.

"Are you from Pheonix?" he asked, his voice smooth and soft. There's no way he's single, she thought, but didn't see a ring on his finger.

"Uh, no, I moved here with my little sister from Nebraska."

Kurama nodded, recalling little about Nebraska, except that it seemed a dull place to be.

"Well I hope you're settling in well here. And if you ever need any help or have any questions, please feel free to ask." He flashed her a bright smile that left her just a little stunned. He moved to head back to his desk, and dumbly she moved at the same time, creating a small collision. She blushed and hurriedly apologized. She was officially mortified.

He was still smiling politely as she made a swift exit. She hadn't noticed that his hands were behind his back since she bumped into him. Or that her wallet was now missing.