Tokine sighed as she softly closed the door behind her. She peaked out of the window to see Yoshimori strolling back to his house without a care in the world. Taking off her shoes, she climbed the stairs, rubbing her eyes. The door closed softly behind her and she fell into the bed. She brought her pillow to her chest and stared at her wall.

She didn't know if she loved Yoshimori or not. Could they even have a future, with the ghosts of their pasts trailing behind? How could they go from loathing each other to caring for one another? Tokine huffed and closed her eyes. She was tired and did not feel like sorting out her feelings at the moment. She would think about it later. Right now she just had to sleep...


Yoshimori whistled softly to himself as he entered his room. A grin slowly came to his face as he remembered Tokine's startled eyes when he told her his feelings. It slowly fell however when he thought of the events that happened earlier in the day. He had told her the truth. He did almost go crazy when he pulled her out of the lake. She had seemed so still and what he didn't tell her was that she had stopped breathing. He paused at the doorway to his room as voices filtered through his wall. He could clearly hear the old man pacing in the other room.

"I don't understand! What the hell happened in there? The gate between our world and Master Uro's has never acted this way!"

"Be quiet! Do you want to wake my family with your squalling?" Shigemori whispered harshly, pacing the room with his hands folded within his sleeves, head down and eyes squinted through the dim light to see the frail and wrinkled form of Tokiko. She sat infront of their dining table with a thoughtful frown on her face, her eyes following her fellow kekkaishi's movements.

"I am sorry. I'm just trying to figure out what exactly happened in that world!" She brought up a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, eyes tightly closed to control her irritation with the bafoon infront of her.

"The only way we will know is when Tokine is ready to tell us. Until then, let's not let our imagination run wild and jump to conclusions. For now we will call it a night."

Tokiko looked up as Shigemori finally calmed enough to sit directly across from her. "That is not our only problem, you old goat."

"I know, you old hag. We will discuss matronomy matters tomorrow as well, alright? Now get out of here because my eyes can't handle seeing you anymore tonight." Tokiko scoffed and threw a random object at her partner, that hit him in the face causing him to teeter back.

"Damn it, you old devil hag!" Shigemori's angry outburst followed her out the door, the old woman smirking to herself, the smirk falling off her lips as a frown replaced it. She was worried at the brief description her granddaughter told her of the state of Master Uro's realm. There was something wrong here. Realms didn't just collapse like that just because the Masters' beds fall apart. The final battle of Kokuburo seemed to end any intelligently planned uprisings to take Karamori after the battle, so for the Kokuburo to be at fault was highly unlikely.

Tokiko sighed as she entered the darkened house, her granddaughter's light out in her room. She silently closed the door and wearily made her way up the stairs. She was too old for this...


Two eyes watched Tokiko's back disappear behind their closing door, a frown on their owner's face. Yoshimori turned and silently made his way to his room, closing the door softly he made his way to his bed, falling with a sigh and looking up at the ceiling. He was worried about Tokine and briefly thought about climbing up to her window and scaring her to get her to maybe tell him what happened. This thought left as quickly as it came as he realized Tokine was probably wanting to rest and not think on the events that almost made her lose her mind, literally. He sighed and turned his body to face the door, closing his eyes he breathed deeply, remembering the feel of Tokine safely in his arms, the smell of her hair in his nose. He fell asleep to these peaceful thoughts.


Tokine cringed when the bright light hit her sleepy eyes. She moaned and threw her pillow over her head, sighing in frustration when her alarm clock started blaring. Her hand lifted from the bed, fumbling, a huff of irritation passing her lips as a thud met her ears. Groaning she sat up, leaning close to the floor to snatch the clock, finally hitting the stop button on the annoying contraption, the irritating sound finally taking pity on her ears as it faded away. Sighing, Tokine threw the clock on her bed, not minding as the plug ripped from the outlet. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, stretching like a cat, a satisfied smile appearing at the pleasent feeling of stretching her muscles. She stumbled her way to her closet, carelessly throwing on a tank top and shorts. She fixed her hair in her usual pony tail, bending down slightly to snatch her shoes.

"Good morning, Tokine." Tokiko greeted as Tokine sat down.

"Where's Mom?" She asked, propping her head on her hand.

"She's out with some friends. Would you like some breakfast?" Tokine's eyes widened and she hurriedly stood, waving her hands infront of her.

"No no that's ok. I'm not real hungry today." She made her escape out the door, breathing in relief. Turning she ran into a hard chest. Stumbling, tokine righted herself to glare up at Yoshimori who only looked down at her for a second before giving a nod and continuing on his way, Tokine left to gape at him from behind.

That was it? What the hell was last night? Tokine scowled and ran after him.

"What was that, baka?" She retorted, watching a flash of amusement cross his eyes. He smirked and looked at her, both still walking to the school. "Why what do you mean, Tokine?"

"Who just nods at their friend?" An eyebrow rose, "So you are my friend now?"

Tokine blushed and looked down, cursing him under her breath. Yoshi laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling the startled girl into his side. Looking up with wide eyes, he laughed at the deer in the headlights look. "Last time I checked we're not only friends, Tokine." He waggled his brows suggestively at her. Her face burst scarlet and she rushed out of his arms and on ahead, head down in embaressment. Yoshimori laughed and brought his hands up behind his head, continuing on to school, watching the form of his fiancee hurry on ahead. He looked up at the sky, a big grin on his face. Today had started out great. Nothing could ruin his mood.

"Hey babe."

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Scratch that.