Chapter 9

The temple and its surroundings were quiet, out on the grounds birds were chirping happily, hopping around and showering in the dust.

Kurama and Genkai were both sitting Indian style on the wide veranda facing the training grounds, sipping tea. Hiei was hidden in the branches of a nearby tree, his back against the tree trunk and his eyes closed.

A loud crash followed by louder cursing broke the peace.

"Finally." Genkai muttered under her breath.

Yusuke, followed by a slightly bruised and fuming Kuwabara came into view.

"Took you long enough dimwit." The old master spat at her student who completely ignored her words and moved to sit next to Kurama.

"Hello Yusuke." The redhead calmly greeted with a faint smile on his lips.

"Hey man. 'Sup Hiei?" Yusuke seemed to be in a good mood. "I'm ditching you guys early today. I need to take Keiko out or you'll be attending my second funeral soon enough."

Kurama raised his eyebrow and then looked over at Kuwabara who, after tripping over his own feet has finally dragged himself over to the veranda.

"Good morning Genkai." He nodded at the woman. "Kurama man, I'm sorry about yesterday. Didn't mean to drag you and your date into that whole dinner thing."

Kurama sighed. "It's alright, we had fun." Today would definitely be the day he'll break up with Aine.

"You're dating a girl Kurama? And here I was beginning to question your sexuality…" Yusuke said, slapping Kurama's shoulder.

"Yes Yusuke, I'm dating a girl." The redhead said, shrugging Yusuke's hand off his shoulder. "Not for long though." He then added quietly to himself.

"So you're finally getting rid of the woman?" Hiei jumped down from the tree, landing gracefully in front of the veranda.

"Yes." Kurama nodded, relief washing over his mind from the thought.

"Really? She's nice though…" Kuwabara said with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.

"Yes, but she's not someone I can see in my future."

"Is she a nice fuck at least?" Yusuke wiggled his eyebrows at Kurama.

"I'm not about to discuss my sex life with you Yusuke." Kurama was never the 'kiss-and-tell' type, too bad Yusuke couldn't seem to understand that.

"Aw come on! We're all friends here." The perverted grin never left Yusuke's face.

"Detective, you dragged us all here to train, not to discuss the fox's sex life." Hiei was beginning to lose his patience, it was about time they stopped with the girl talk. "And the lack of yours." He then added with a smirk.

"Hiei is right. Stop slacking." Genkai gave them all a look that clearly meant some physical pain. "Why don't you start with two hundred laps around the grounds?" she added with a sadistic smile.

Yusuke and Kuwabara's jaws hit the floor.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" She barked at them as the boys took off running, breathing in the dust Hiei left behind him.

"And when we realized that we didn't have enough money to cover the bill, Amaya flashed the bartender and we ran out of the bar while the fool was still in shock!" Kai finished her story, cracking up as she remembered the guy's face.

After leaving the café she and Shizuru headed over to Shizuru's place and shared stories over a cup of coffee (in Kai's case about four of them.). Both had plenty of those to share. While Kai's were mostly of all the crazy situations she and Amaya apparently had a knack for getting in to, Shizuru's involved every stupid thing Kuwabara has ever said or done.

Shizuru was laughing and clutching her stomach "That Amaya chick sound like one hell of a girl."

"Wait 'till you meet her. It'll either be the best or the worst day of you life." Kai replied, grinning. Amaya was a bit intense at times and not everyone could relate to her. "You should really go out with us some time, the one thing I can guarantee is that you'll never be bored." Kai offered. She was really beginning to like the older girl as they got to know each other more. They had a lot in common, besides their obvious love for liquor. They had the same taste in movies and both were independent and hardheaded. And after a small review of their dating habits, both made the worst choices when it came to whom they should date.

"Sounds great!" Shizuru said, getting up. "Want some more coffee? Or should I cut you off before you start bouncing off the walls?"

"Another cup would be great." Kai smiled at her host.

Shizuru only shook her head, a smile on her face, as she took Kai's cup and headed over to the kitchen. When she returned, Kai was elbow deep in her purse, trying to find the other pack of cigarettes that was supposed to be there. With a small 'Aha!' and a triumphant smile, she placed a brand new pack of Marlboro lights on the table and threw the bag back to the floor by her feet.

"Here you go." Shizuru placed the cup on the table and took her place across Kai on the couch.

"Thanks." Kai muttered as she lit another cigarette and filled the air around her with swirling smoke.

Both girls stayed silent for a few minutes, just observing each other.

"This is gonna take a while to get used to, huh?" Shizuru finally spoke up.

Kai raised her eyebrow in a silent question and Shizuru sighed. "You know the whole family thing…"

"Oh." Kai looked down at her hands for a second before speaking. "Yeah, I guess… You know, all this big happy family thing is unfamiliar territory for me. I mean, Amaya is like a sister to me, but it's been just my mom and me for almost eighteen years. So I don't really know how this whole thing is supposed to work."

"What about your father?"

"Never met him. Mom wouldn't even tell me his name, makes me wonder if she knows it herself." A bitter undertone seeped beneath Kai's words. She bit her lip before raising her eyes to meet Shizuru's with an uneasy look. She really didn't think that this subject would come up so quickly, but it would've floated to the surface eventually, and maybe it would be better to just get it over with.

Shizuru held Kai's gaze with her own before clearing her throat. "Kazuma and I…We lost our mother when I was thirteen. She died in a car crash, it was a hit and run." She said in a low voice.

"I'm sorry…" Kai trailed off.

Shizuru nodded at her, a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"Did they find the other driver?"

"No…Kazuma still hopes they will though."

"And you?"

"I figure it's pretty hopeless after all those years." Shizuru said with a small sigh.

Kai nodded, not knowing what to say. She never lost anyone close to her to death, and the words just locked themselves up in her throat, refusing to come out.

"I…we…We don't really know how this big happy family thing works anymore too. But I think we'll figure it out eventually." Shizuru smiled gently at the younger girl she already accepted as family. All that's left now is for Kazuma to do the same, she thought.


Alright another chapter out. Took me a while, mainly because I was lazy, but here it is.

Thanks for reading, x's&o's