Hi everyone! I'm um drawing a complete blank on what to put here so on with the story!
Hiei: I didn't think that was possible.
Shut up.

Della's POV:

"Della you have to wake up." A soft voice pulled me from my deep sleep making me groan and pull the covers up over my head.

"Noooo, go way! Five more minutes." I mumbled through the blankets. A gentle hand pulled the covers down and pushed the hair back from my face.

"I'm sorry but your parents will probably be wondering where you are soon…" I shot upright as if I had been electrocuted, not a really smart plan. Kurama had been leaning over me which caused our foreheads to knock together painfully. We both fell back on the bed holding our heads.

"Okay, ow, that really hurt."

"Indeed."

I looked at him with one eye, "Sorry." He nodded and left the room without another word, making me grimace. Great, he was still playing ice man. Ice demon. Whatever. Grrrr!

I got up slowly, feeling all my muscles protest loudly, and several bones as well. As I listened to a few of them pop back into place I wondered how I would explain everything to my parents. Yeah, that was going to be a fun conversation. Well, you see, this demon assassin came after me because I'm friends with these guys from school. Why? Oh, because they're Spirit Detectives and Shuichi is actually a demon in disguise. That was so going to go over well.

I walked down the hallway of Genkai's place following the sound of voices and the smell of food. At the end of the hall I ran into the kitchen where Genkai had explained, more or less, what was going on and had answered some of my more pressing questions from the night before.

The guys, Genkai, Botan, and a girl wearing a blue kimono with pretty blue-green hair were all clustered around the table talking and enjoying a midnight snack. I noticed how Kuwabara was preening and fawning over the girl, I smiled; he obviously had a huge crush on her.

Genkai tossed a small cell phone at me, "Call your parents and tell them where you are, then ask them to come pick you up."

"Isn't the whole point for them not to find out what happened?"

"Which is why you'll tell them that you were here the whole night, you will then give the phone to me and I will confirm your story and request that you become my pupil."

"What!?" Yusuke and I shouted at the same time; I in surprised excitement, him in disbelieving horror.

"Hold on a second grandma, I thought I was your only student."

"You were. Della has very strong Spirit Energy locked inside of her. She needs to learn how to use it quickly and effectively if she is going to be of any assistance, stop being such a baby Yusuke."

"No." Everyone turned to stare at Kurama who was calmly sipping his tea. "Della is a human; she doesn't need to be involved in this." I glared at him feeling totally betrayed, what a jerk! Did he think that I couldn't help them? That I couldn't contribute because I wasn't a demon?

"Yusuke and Kuwabara are human too and they're more involved than I am. Besides I'm pretty God damn involved already. So it looks like you don't have any say in the matter." So there! I thought, turning to Genkai, "I'll do anything to help Genkai; I'd be honored to have you teach me."

The old woman pointed her chopsticks at Yusuke, "Why can't you be more like her? You might actually learn a thing or two from the girl, slacker." Yusuke muttered something foul under his breath and went back to inhaling all the food within reach as I dialed my mom's cell phone number. She answered on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hey mom."

"Della? Whose phone is this? Where are you? Is something wrong!?" The last came out as a screech, causing me to pull the phone away from my ear lest I suffer hearing loss.

"I'm fine mom, I'm at Yusuke's martial arts teacher's house with some friends; can you come pick me up?"

"You went out alone and didn't tell us!?"

"It wasn't exactly alone, Shuichi is with me and Yusuke's teacher was here the whole time, here talk to her." I foisted the phone on Genkai breathing a sigh of relief and taking the open seat next to the green haired girl.

"Hi, I'm Yukina, nice to meet you." She said shyly, I smiled at her.

"I'm Della; it's nice to meet you Yukina." My arms broke out in goose bumps as a shiver went up my spine, it felt like the temperature had suddenly dropped. "Wow, is it cold in here or is it just me?" I asked through chattering teeth. Yukina laughed, it was a very pleasant sound.

"I'm an ice apparition." I really didn't know why that shocked me but it appeared I hadn't reached my quota for the night…actually considering as how it was after midnight, I was working to fill a brand new day. Lucky me.

"Uh, oh, um, cool. Hey, you have the same colored eyes as Hiei, are you two related?" The sudden silence in the room was broken simultaneously by Kuwabara and Botan who frantically waved her hands around, both shouting in overly loud tones.

"Yukina related to that little punk? You gotta be kidding me, she's nothing like him!"

"No no no! They aren't related Della, you silly girl. Of course not!" Botan's statement was followed by nervous laughter that set my teeth on edge. Ooookay, there was definitely something in the room I wasn't getting…like the bright pink elephant that sat between the scrambled eggs and the toast. I promised myself I'd corner Botan before I left, she seemed to be in the know about said elephant. I slid a look across the table to Kuwabara who was showing off his muscles…even if he wasn't.

The phone was shoved back under my nose, leaving me no choice but to take it. "Hi."

"I am not happy with you right now Della Elizabeth, but I think Genkai makes a good argument. You can take classes at her school but other than that you are grounded missy! We'll be there in ten minutes." I groaned as I hung up. Grounded? Just perfect.

"Attacked by an assassin and grounded for it. My life sucks." Yusuke laughed as he reached for more food even though he had barely paused in his shoveling the whole time Genkai was on the phone.

"At least you're alive for your life to suck. Being a ghost totally blows. Trust me." I rolled my eyes, really not wanting to hear that story right now because I was sure he was telling the truth.

When I focused on the door again, a short figure dressing in all black had appeared. I was happy to see that Hiei had replaced his headband. That third eye was way creepy.

"Your assassin is detained and awaiting questioning." And poof! He's gone again, I sighed mentally. Someone was really going to have to teach me how to do that. As one Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama stood up.

"Let's go see what we can get outta this mystery assassin." Yusuke said, cracking his knuckles.

Kuwabara grabbed Yukina's hands in both of his, "I have to go now, my darling Yukina but I'll be thinking about you the whole time I'm gone!" I smiled at Kuwabara's antics, and he had had the nerve to tease me about a secret admirer? This was blackmail gold!

Yukina laughed, "Kazuma, you're so funny!"

Yusuke hit him in the back of the head, "Come on lover boy, let's go kick some assassin butt."

"Leave me alone Urameshi! Can't you see I'm talking to my girl?" Not wanting to put up with their bickering I got up and slipped outside. The night was chilly but manageable, breathing deeply I felt grateful for the cool air as I took a seat on the porch, letting my legs dangle over the edge. A jacket was draped over my shoulders. It was really no surprise to see Kurama standing beside me but my heart still jumped in my chest. Traitor! I yelled at the fickle organ. I was mad at him and confused and just not in the mood to deal with his bipolarness right now.

"May I sit down?" I shrugged, refusing to look at him. He let out a sad sigh.

"I'm sorry Della, I never meant for you to become a part of this. Of my world. If I could go back and change things I would. I knew better than to get involved with a human, considering what I am. Your anger is perfectly understandable. Please believe me, the last thing I want is to endanger your life or see you hurt. Let us take care of this and afterwards you never have to see us again. You'll never have to see me again." My head jerked around so fast I heard my neck pop. I may be mad at him, but the thought of never seeing Kurama again brought me inches away from a panic attack.

"What? Are you kidding me? I chose to be friends with you, Yusuke, and Kuwabara. Why would I not want to see any of you again? Granted I never expected this to happen but I want to help you…and besides I'm not angry about any of that." We sat in silence for a few minutes; I could tell he was stunned by my revelation. I could also tell he was thinking about why I was mad.

"Why are you angry with me?" I flinched as he hit the bull's eye.

"I'm not."

"You're a bad liar."

"Am not." My voice sounded lame in my own ears. His hand cupped my cheek and turned my face so that I had to look at him. His eyes were so sad they broke my heart.

"Is it because I'm a demon?"

"No!"

"Then why?" I growled at him.

"You're so confusing! Last night you kissed me and then today it's like it never happened! You barely look at me; you won't touch me, you…" I was going to keep going with my tirade about how infuriating he was being but he silenced my words with a kiss.

After a single disbelieving minute I wrapped both my arms around his neck and pulled him towards me. He was so not getting away this time! The hand on my cheek slid into my hair and cupped the back of my head as his other arm wound around my waist, pulling me even closer against his chest. My lips parted slowly under the gentle coaxing of his tongue, causing my head to spin and my eyes to close. As our kiss deepened I forgot why I had been mad at him, it simply didn't matter anymore.

When he pulled back minutes later I was still dizzy and refused to let go of him, he didn't release me either and the knowledge caused my heart to soar. "I didn't expect you return my feelings after you learned the truth," he breathed in my hair, "I want to protect you Della, I never wanted you to know how dangerous the world can be." I hugged him harder. My poor misguided demon, he had been trying to protect me the whole time. The thought made my heart melt for him.

"No more trying to protect me from things okay? I want to be your partner, not a liability." He tensed, obviously fighting an internal battle to accept my terms. Finally he let out a breath and nodded. The sound of tires on gravel at the bottom of the millions of steps leading to the temple had us reluctantly releasing each other.

Genkai strolled around the corner and I had the suspicious feeling that she had been waiting there for some time. She lit a cigarette. "That would be your parents Della. Kurama, they already left for Spirit World so I assume you'll be seeing Della home?"

He nodded and pulled me to my feet. "Thank you for all your help Genkai." The old woman puffed on her cigarette and waved away his thanks.

"Don't mention it kid." She cut me a look, "I'll be seeing you after school. Every day." I grimaced.

"Yes Genkai." Kurama and I held hands as we walked down the multitude of steps to the waiting car. "I really don't remember there being this many steps."

Kurama laughed, "That's because I carried you up most of them."

"Oh. That's my big strong demon." I fluttered my eyelashes at him but he didn't smile back. "Kurama? Did I say something wrong?"

"It really doesn't bother you?"

"Nope." A ghost of a smile touched his lips.

"You are a very special girl my rose."

A silly smile spread across my face as my heart beat sped up and I felt like skipping, or flying. "Yeah I know. So what kind of demon are you?"

"A fox demon."

"Really? Coolness! So how'd you end up half human?" We had reached the car by then and Kurama pulled open my door.

"That is a story for another time." David glowered at us as we slid in the back seat but didn't say anything. I figured they were waiting until we didn't have company to ream me for going out, that being said, the ride home was…interesting to say the least. It consisted of David glaring at Kurama and me in the back seat and my mother sneaking not so subtle glances at our still clasped hands. Awkward. Very awkward. When we reached my house my mother thankfully hustled David inside without a word, well, from him anyway. She yelled over her shoulder before the door closed, "I'm so proud of you sweetie! Be inside in three minutes, you're still grounded."

I literally felt all the blood rush to my face and found myself incapable of even looking in Kurama's direction. He chuckled, turned my face up to his and kissed me. Embarrassment instantly forgotten I returned his kiss, until I heard my mom yelling from my bedroom. Obviously she had been trying to spy on us.

"Della! What happened to your window!?"

"Frick."

Lol I didn't realize how long this chapter was, but I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review!