Dc-chan: Summer time is almost here and soon it will be time for vacation cheer!

MCT: NO RHYMING GOD DAMMIT!

Seraph: Rhyming burns my ears.

Dc-chan: Sorry…I'm just so happy! June 15th is the end of school! Because it's almost summer that means I can write more cuz all the teachers just assign you study homework due to upcoming finals. And I don't study (it's a mystery why I have a 3.8 GPA, especially since my school is a college prep school). I NEVER STUDY! So, yeah. Expect more chapters. My goal is to crank out one or two a week…hopefully.

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, but if I did Jin would have a MUCH bigger role. IRISH PRIDE! (Actually, I'm Scotch-Irish…)

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Chapter 7 of Define 'Normal'

The Guardian of Time Stage 2

Kurama paced around his room as Kira watched him from the corner of her eyes. Occasionally, he would glance at the clock on the wall as the seconds ticked by slowly. Tick, tock, tick, tock. The sound had become almost unbearable.

Kira was sitting on the chair by the desk, quietly drumming her fingers. If this silence went on any longer she was going to go completely insane.

"They should've been here by now," she said dryly. By 'they' she meant Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei. Those three were supposed to meet them at Kurama's house so they could discuss the current situation.

Kurama finally stopped pacing and sat down on his bed while rubbing his temple. "I sure wish they would hurry up. What could be keeping them? I said three in the afternoon, not four thirty." He sighed in exasperation as she looked across the room at Kira who was staring back at him.

"They're probably playing video games or something…" she trailed off, making a mental note to kick both Yusuke's and Kuwabara's asses for not coming to help them when they were fighting Ranmyaku because they had been at the arcade. She stood up and stretched her arms over her head and cracked her knuckles with her arms in the air before lowering them to her sides. "This is so boring. I hate waiting."

"I'm sure they're not that irresponsible." The kitsune said in an effort to reassure himself that they were on their way and NOT playing video games.

"You don't know them like I do." Kira retorted shaking her head. "You didn't go to school with them for six months."

Kurama raised as eyebrow at her.

She put her hands up, "Fine, fine. I know I didn't go to school that much either, but they're guys. Guys are always negligent, no offence or anything."

"None taken." He spread his arms out and fell down on his bed with his legs dangling over the side. All of this waiting was making him so tired. He could be studying than doing this, but that would make Kira call him a 'nerd' again. Kurama refrained from telling Kira that she had overheard that mostly because it would embarrass her.

Kira put her hands behind her back and leaned against the wall. "I can't stand this! I'm so bored!" Her eyes scanned Kurama's room which was much, much more organized than hers or any other room she'd ever seen. It was just so clean and tidy. The textbooks perfectly stacked, papers organized, bed made and a vacuumed floor. It was then that she noticed the absence of a certain little fur ball. "Where's Neko?"

"Outside somewhere…" he replied, propping himself up on his elbow. "She's kinda become more of an outdoor cat now."

"Oh." Kira clicked her tongue. "Just wondering." A sinister idea then crossed her mind and she pumped her fists in the air suddenly feeling energized.

The kitsune was caught off guard by her sudden change in mood.

She casually walked over to his bookshelf, fully aware that his eyes were on her. Geez, they're even in alphabetical order. She traced her index finger along some of the book titles, none of which she was familiar with, before taking one off the shelf. "You know Kurama," she smiled while opening the book, "I don't think I've ever meet someone with such a clean room."

Kurama raised an eyebrow. "Is that a compliment?"

She nodded absentmindedly, "If you want it to be." She closed the book and stared at his door, her eyes glazing over and becoming misty. "Someone's coming…"

He inclined his head towards her, but said nothing.

Kira opened the door and Yusuke and Kuwabara came tumbling in with Hiei close behind.

"Dammit, Kamiyama!" Kuwabara pouted while sitting up cross-legged about pushing Yusuke off of him. "We wanted to scare you guys."

She rolled her eyes, "How lame." She then hit his head with the book repeatedly while Yusuke made his way over to Kurama in such a cautious way as to avoid a beating himself.

"How'd you get in?" Kurama asked, very confused.

Yusuke reached his hand in his pocket and pulled out a key on a Badtz-maru key chain. "Kira let us borrow the key she has to your house." He pulled out Kurama's chair from the desk and sat on after placing the keys on the desk. Yusuke leaned back on the chair and draped one of his arms over the back of it. "So…I suppose this meeting is important, right?"

"Stupid idiot!" Kira yelled, still hitting Kuwabara over the head with the book. "I'm a psychic! You can't pull anything on me! Dork!"

Kurama and Yusuke exchanged amused looks while Hiei stood in the corner of the room, a smirk pulling on his lips as well.

"C'mon, Kuwabara!" Yusuke said roaring with laughter and holding his stomach. "Fight back!"

Kuwabara glowered at him as he held one of his arms up to block the teenage girl's vicious assault. "She's a girl! I don't fight girls! It's against my code!"

Yusuke shrugged it off and glanced over to the kitsune. "So, what's this little meeting about? Something happen?"

Kurama was about to answer, but Kira then turned her attention to Yusuke with her brown eyes flashing.

"Damn straight something happened!" She chucked the book at him and he ducked just in time for it to miss him and hit the wall behind him. "Kurama and I got our asses totally kicked, that's what happened!" She then mumbled some curse words under her breath before sitting down on the floor next to the semiconscious Kuwabara.

Yusuke's eyes widened. "By who?"

"Some jerk off named Ranmyaku." Kira said, gritting her teeth.

Yusuke arched an eyebrow. "Is that someone we know?" Mentally, he ran through the names of every bad guy he ever fought, but couldn't remember anyone by that specific name.

"Of course we don't know him!" Kira snapped.

"From the fight, it appeared he was just analyzing our abilities." Kurama said thoughtfully. "He probably intends to kill us later."

Kira scowled, "Why though? Why does he want to kill us? We don't even know him!"

Kurama thought about this for a second. It is strange that someone would attack us, especially in a public place where they could be seen. He stole a glance at Kira who was furrowing her brows. She was most likely upset because that Ranmyaku had just been toying with them and that they couldn't compete with him in their present condition.

"Perhaps it would be best to consult Koenma on this matter." Hiei stated icily. "Or maybe someone with more adequate intelligence than everyone in this room."

"You do realize that you're insulting your own intelligence too, ne?" Kira scoffed at him.

"He's right though," Kurama said in agreement. "Maybe Koenma could make a connection to this Ranmyaku character. Yusuke, can you contact Botan and tell her to ask Koenma about Ranmyaku?"

"Yeah, I suppose, but why don't we go and ask Koenma ourselves?" Yusuke asked.

"Ranmyaku is going to be hard to beat and I've a feeling he's working in a group," Kurama explained slowly. "In order to stand a chance we're going to need to train some more."

Kira froze and the color drained from her face. "No, you don't mean…ANYTHING BUT THAT!" She squealed in a high pitch voice then began clinging to Kurama's desk for dear life. "I'm not going back to be trained by Obaa-san!"

"Well, at least you get it east because you're her granddaughter." Yusuke shot back. The memories of his training with Genkai still frightened him to this day.

"That's not true at all!" She shot back. "She's even harder on me because I am her granddaughter!"

Kuwabara stirred from unconsciousness and sat up with many visible bruises on his head. "Did I miss anything?"

Kira hung her head, "We're doomed…doomed…doomed."

Kurama ignored her pessimism, "We'll meet at Genkai's in two weeks, is that agreeable?"

"Why not next Saturday?" Kuwabara asked.

"Well, um…" Kurama tried to think of a quick excuse. Next Saturday was the day of Kira's mother's engagement party which Kira had no clue about so he couldn't very well say it in front of her. He didn't want to be the one to break the ice to her. "Because I promised to help my stepfather at his office that day."

Kira nodded, "Okay, sounds good to me. Any objections?"

There were none. The next half-hour was spent with Kira chasing Yusuke around playfully with Kuwabara egging her on since the three of them hadn't hung out together in what felt like ages to them, meanwhile Hiei slipped out preferring not to be involved with the teenagers idiocy.

Just before Yusuke and Kuwabara left, Kira was staying at Kurama's house for dinner because her mother wasn't home (she was on a date so she didn't want Kira to be home alone, but Kira was entirely unaware of that) Kurama talked briefly to them on the doorstep outside.

"Listen, just in case either of you run into Ranmyaku you need to know his weakness." Kurama said sternly. "When he uses his Sword of Bones, it leaves one of his arms incapacitated."

"Meaning?" Kuwabara stared blankly at him.

"That that arm can't perform any attacks." Yusuke said.

"Exactly." Kurama confirmed. "I don't quite know how to exploit it though, but it's something to watch out for." With that bit of information shared Yusuke and Kuwabara left and Kurama returned to inside the house, but Kira was nowhere in sight. "Kira?" He walked into the living room, it was dead silent. Just as he turned around she sprang on him and pinned him to the ground.

"Gotcha!" She beamed triumphantly with her hands holding his shoulders down roughly.

"Haha, very funny." He chided her. "Can you please get off now?"

"I can…" she said innocently. "But I don't really feel like it."

"Oh, really?" In a flash of movement he flipped her over so she was on her back and he was the one pinning her to the ground. Her eyes were wide from surprise and she was clearly embarrassed at being overpowered so easily. He sighed heavily. "Why do you enjoy tackling me so much, anyway?"

She puffed out her cheeks childishly, "Because you're so serious most of the time."

"I am?" He pretended to be surprised, but he couldn't stop grinning. "Well maybe this will change your opinion…" He started tickling her on her forearms, but made sure to hold her down so she couldn't get away.

"S-s-stop!" She said in-between gasps of breath from laughing so hard. Kira tried to pull away although she was giggling too hard which prevented her from doing so. "C'mon…stop!"

"You still think I'm too serious?" Kurama asked as she futilely tried to get away.

She squirmed and wriggled, she hated being so ticklish. "Seriously…haha….stop it…" She freed her arms and put them on his chest to push him away. When she tried sitting up she stopped with her back only a few inches from the ground, her face was just inches from his.

He stopped tickling her and blushed a deep shade of pink. His heart began beating erratically as it just registered in his head that her face was only a few inches away from his own. Without thinking, he leaned in towards her cautiously, aware that she was watching him carefully. He felt her shaky hands clutch his shirt tightly and he felt her warm breath against his lips. Kurama was only mere moments away from kissing her when at the last split second she ducked her head and he ended up kissing her awkwardly on her forehead.

He gulped when he withdrew and began apologizing immediately. "I'm sorry…"

She let go of his shirt, her eyes were hidden under her red bangs in an effort to hide how she was feeling. Kira didn't know what to say, she thought when Yusuke had told her that Kurama had liked her so many months ago that he hadn't been serious about it, but it now seemed to be the truth. Why couldn't have seen it earlier?

"I didn't mean too…" He started, trying to organize his thoughts and deal with her rejection at the same time. "I'm…it just…"

Kira bit her bottom lip and looked up at him, "You don't have to apologize."

Just then, as if the Fates truly did have it in for them, the front door opened and Kurama's family came in.

"Shuichi, I'm back from the grocery store!" Shiori announced with her husband and stepson behind her.

"ACK!" Shuichi screamed loudly as he entered the living room to find his stepbrother with Kira. "Okaa-san, they're at it again!"

Kira and Kurama looked at him with deadpan expressions before gradually turning to face each other and laughing at how freaked out the young teenage boy was.

Yusuke walked along the dimly lit street alone. He had just said goodbye to Kuwabara and they had parted ways since they lived in different directions. He strolled along with his hands in his pocket while musing how oblivious Kira was to Kurama's feelings. It wasn't that long ago that he was in the same boat, he didn't really understand the depths of Keiko's feelings for himself until just a few months ago. It was strange to think of Keiko as his girlfriend since he had known her for so long, but he really wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

As he was lost in his train of thought, he barely noticed that each streetlight that he walked past flicker out, leaving utter darkness behind him.

Yusuke paused to see that a few feet in front of him a fallen form lay there. He edged closer hesitantly until he recognized the bundle of brown hair and blue school uniform.

"Keiko!" He rushed forward and turned her onto her back and put his hand under her head. Yusuke shook her gently. "Keiko! Wake up!"

She didn't move. He put grabbed her wrist and sighed in relief as he felt a pulse, at least she was alive.

His eyes scanned his surroundings frantically and it was then that he noticed that all the streetlights were out except for the one directly above him and Keiko. He saw something move in the corner of his eyes and whirled around.

Clenching his fists he yelled into the night, "Come out here you bastard!"

A leather boot stepped out into the light followed by a cloaked figure. "You needn't be so angry, she's merely asleep." He lowered his hood and folded his arms across his chest. "Greetings, I'm the infamous Ranmyaku."

Yusuke stood up and looked his foe up and down. There was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary with him, not even any visible demon traits. Yusuke knew better than to judge his opponent by appearances by now though. So this is the guy that had Kurama and Kira so freaked out, huh? He rolled up his sleeves. "You're going to pay for what you did to Keiko!"

"Is that a fact?" Ranmyaku chuckled while rubbing his hands together. He eyed Yusuke wearily. "Well, I'm not one to disappoint. If it's a fight you want than a fight is what you'll get." He grabbed his left arm and immediately it was surrounded in a dark aura. "Sword of Bones!" He cried pulling out the white blade which was soaked in crimson.

Yusuke hide his smirk. Moron, I know your weakness with that weapon. Good thing Kurama told me.

Ranmyaku charged at Yusuke and swung the blade which glinted in the moonlight. Yusuke dodged and jumped to the side so he was a few feet away from Ranmyaku.

Okay, now think. You know his weakness, but you've got to exploit it somehow. Think, Yusuke, think!

He ducked as Ranmyaku came at him with the sword once more, but this time it cut his right cheek slightly so a little blood dripped out and ran down his face. Yusuke wiped it away and ducked again as Ranmyaku attempted a high kick, but this time Yusuke came up from under him and punched him square in the jaw, sending him flying backwards.

Yusuke took Ranmyaku's down time as a means to move Keiko's limp body to safety on the sidelines where she couldn't accidentally get hurt.

"You put up quite a good fight," Ranmyaku panted, recovering from the blow.

Yusuke glared daggers at him. He wanted nothing more than to ring his neck.

Ranmyaku held up his sword and licked the blade slyly. "You look really angry now." He lowered his blade then charged him so fast that Yusuke had barely time to react, but he managed to maneuver out of the way.

Instinctively, Yusuke grabbed Ranmyaku's limp left arm and with his other hand aimed his spirit gun right in-between Ranmyaku's shoulder blade and elbow.

"REI GUN!"

A blue blast of light shot forth and ripped through Ranmyaku's arm and a sickening tearing sound was heard as blood waterfalled from the wound. The arm fall lifelessly to the ground covered in crimson blood.

Ranmyaku dropped his sword and dropped to his knees in agony. "My arm! You'll pay for this you…you…" He put his other hand over it and hunched over, unable to finish his sentence, and began shrieking in pain.

Yusuke stood over him and blew on his index finger like it was a smoking gun. "That's what poor bastards like you get. Let that be a lesson to you, don't ever piss me off!"

Ranmyaku gathered his Sword of Bones and amputated left arm with his uninjured right arm, breathing heavily from the blood loss. He directed his cold blue eyes up at the Reikai Tantei and said in a passionless voice, "Mark my words. I'll make you pay for this." A black cloud of wispy smoked engulfed him and when it cleared, he was gone.

Blood stained the street, but Yusuke didn't care. His first thoughts after the fight were of Keiko. He dashed over to her to see she was waking up.

She cracked her brown eyes open, "Yu-Yusuke?"

Yusuke smiled, "Yeah?"

She pushed herself up with her hands with Yusuke supporting her with one of his hands on her back. "What happened here?" Keiko looked at all the blood everywhere then looked curiously at Yusuke.

"Do you remember anything before you fell asleep?" Yusuke inquired.

Keiko shook her head, "Not really…the last thing I remember was going to sleep in my room. Why?"

"So the name Ranmyaku doesn't ring a bell?"

"No."

"Okay then," he held her arm and helped her up. "I'll walk you back home, Keiko."

She rubbed her eyes, "Thank you, Yusuke."

"No problem."

"Quit being a baby, Ranmyaku!" The cloaked female, Atsureki, scolded bitterly. "I'll do my best to fix the mess you've gotten yourself in."

Ranmyaku was sitting on a cold surgery table in a dimly lit room with only the bones of his left arm, no skin covering them, visible. The rest of his body was hidden under his own black cloak.

"It hurts! It hurts!" He whined childishly as Atsureki applied a liquid solution to the bones.

"This will help your skin grow back, but it will take about a month. Until then, be prepared for some painful nights." She dabbed some more of the translucent liquid on the bones with a washcloth.

"It stings!" He groaned loudly. "Why does it sting so much?"

"Accelerated cell growth," Atsureki mumbled in reply. "Now shut up and take it like a man!" She threw the washcloth into a corner of the room furiously. The others better get back soon before Ranmyaku drives my insane.

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Dc-chan: I'm so proud of myself. Today I super glued a quarter to the ground just for some after school amusement and so many people tried to pick it up. IT WAS GOD DAMN HILARIOUS! I highly recommend it if you're bored and have superglue and a quarter laying around.

NEXT CHAPTER: Interlude (a break between The Guardian of Time arch, but the chapter after that will be Stage 3)

Thanks for all the great reviews. Incessant ember, thank you for reminding me to go back and look through my writing. I've been getting kinda lazy, but one day I shall go back to Rock My World and edit it. Someday…

ROCK ON AND LOVE AND PEACE,

Dc-chan