Please review, everyone!

Thanks for the review, Arcee-chan! Sorry about not updating on time but I've spent the entire week either in bed or curled up on a couch.

Hikiri! I'm sorry T.T I've tried it all but I still can't stop sneezing. I've had a couple nosebleeds.

Exotic Flower

Chapter 12: Mother Hen.

Maria's POV

I still didn't get why Toshio had been acting so bratty to Ren and me. Whatever though; he'd pulled that stick out of his ass and had been keeping his sulking to a minimum recently. The three of us were almost back to normal, minus the occasional deep sigh from Toshio.

It made me wonder if he really did like me or something, but I had this feeling that it was a lot more complicated than that. Either way, we were hanging out again.

I was still a little ticked but I would get over it with a little more time. I didn't like to just kick up a fuss when something bothered me, especially when I knew I didn't fully understand the situation.

I suspected Ren had taken him aside and talked to him to smooth over whatever Toshio's real problem was. I kept waiting for him to explain but it didn't look like I was ever going to get the answer at this point.

Still, I had been kind of hurt at first, since I already considered Toshio a good friend and Ren a very trust worthy man. I had to let it go though. I couldn't just pry into the affairs of two grown men.

Toshio had probably been hurt in his own way. I knew he and Ren were cousins but closer than brothers and just had to accept that Toshio felt strongly opposed to our relationship.

I grumbled, half in English and half in Japanese, turning onto my side. Ren pulled me back to his chest, placing a kiss on the back of my head.

"What's wrong?"

It had been a few weeks since our relationship had become a lot more personal and most nights I just broke into Ren's room and crawled into bed next to him after work. Either that or I was just too lazy to leave after spending most of the day with him anyways.

"Nothing's wrong," well, maybe. I was starting to worry that we had jumped into this relationship too quickly. Not even three months had passed since we first met, though I felt like we'd already known each other for years. It was a deceptive kind of belief. I honestly didn't know much about Ren.

I tried to answer his questions honestly and it seemed like Ren was able to dodge most the ones I directed at him. I comforted myself with the reminder that lots of young people were in similar relationships. Heck, at least we didn't lie to each other. We might have left some things unsaid but it was a hell of a lot better than outright lying.

Ren leaned on his elbow, gazing down at me with his strange red eyes. It was hard to stay depressed when he seemed so contented just looking at me.

"Good morning," I greeted dumbly.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Good morning," and he bent down, pressing a feather light kiss to my lips. "When did you break in last night?"

"Three-ish,"

"Go back to sleep then. You don't have class until ten, right?"

I nodded and curled into his chest. "What about you?"

"Eight o'clock,"

"What time is it now?"

"Quarter after six,"

I pulled the blanket over my head, muffling 'too bright' and an already stifled yawn. The stupid windows were one of the things I hated most about the dorm. I couldn't even find a nice set of blinds or curtains to fit them.

There were no private bathrooms either, just a few stalls and showers on the first floor with a common bath. I didn't have anything against public baths but sometimes it was a lot nicer to bathe without half a dozen other girls. Trying to get the bath with no one around was pretty much impossible.

"Ren?"

"Hm?"

"Let's go apartment hunting."

He rumbled and swatted down some of my bed hair. I usually went to sleep with it in a bun or ponytail but had given up recently since Ren liked to comb his fingers through it.

"Good apartments are hard to find and harder to pay for,"

"I'm not allowed to charge anymore money to my private account with the company and I need something to spend it on,"

"Are you trying to say you'll pay the rent?" he rolled onto his back and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. I crawled onto his chest and tried my best to pout without cracking up. His hair was sticking up everywhere. I thought he'd make a perfect crazy scientist.

"You can rent it in your name but I'll pay most," I didn't want it to seem like I was using him to rent an apartment. Mom would know if I rented one myself and then she'd obviously know that I had a lot more money than I should have. "I'll buy groceries too, as long as you cook."

He snorted. "What brought this on?"

I was surprised that he wasn't asking exactly how much money I had. He never really asked and seemed happy with the answer that my secret job paid me well.

When I didn't answer he rolled his eyes. "You just want a walk-in-closet and a bathroom, don't you?"

I chuckled and lid down again, my head resting on his shoulder. "What gave me away?"

"Women," he joked. "Are you sure? You might get bored with me if you have to put up with my grumbling every day,"

I bit his ear and he jumped. "I put up with your grumbling every day anyways,"

"Oi!"

He made to tickle me but I snuggled close to him, claiming I was tired and that I wanted to go back to sleep now. He begrudgingly eased off and I took advantage of his trust to pinch his backside.

"You're not going to get any sleep if you keep this up, you know?"

Shiranui's POV

Being Agano's lapdog meant I had to do a whole lot of things that I hated, a lot. It wasn't like I had any choice and they took advantage of that.

Some things though, I didn't mind.

Take safe guarding Ookawa Yuuya while she went shopping, for example. I doubted she really needed to be watched in the middle of the day but it made her father feel better. He was a High Elder; one who was most likely on the enemy's list for assassination.

I didn't really have time to think about more important matters though; Yuuya was demanding my opinion of every article of clothing she tried on.

"You know, sometimes I wish Oni had regular features. It's really hard to coordinate an outfit that doesn't clash with blue hair and orange eyes,"

I rolled my eyes. "Your features aren't that exaggerated. Most humans probably trick themselves into seeing your hair as black and your eyes as brown." Her hair pretty much was black, just with a hint of blue.

She twirled in front of a mirror, checking out the flounce of a frilly knee length skirt. "I really do appreciate the nationwide charm but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try and match my clothing with my eyes and hair color."

The Agano had made less keen humans unable to physically distinguish most demons from humans for the last hundred years. Mine and Amagiri's appearances were easier to see through while most humans just rationalized that Kazama and his family was half foreign.

I figured it was the blonde hair. Blonde hair seemed to be the classic embodiment of foreignness.

Essentially, demons had fallen off the map and into folk tales and children's bedtime stories.

"Shiranui-san, are you buying anything? It was nice of you to offer to come with me and carry my bags when my friends called to cancel but I'd feel bad if your thought this was a waste of your time."

I shrugged. "My budget's pretty tight at the moment," I couldn't exactly tell her that I was only there to watch over her. Her father and mother didn't want her to think that she was in any danger at all.

Conveniently I knew her well enough accompany her to the mall without seeming too suspicious; a fact that her father detested. When Kaname nominated me for the job the High Elder hadn't even been aware of my presence in his daughter's life.

Kaname didn't normally defend me (unless he thought that I was honestly in a dangerous situation) but he did so then. He had to spend at least twenty minutes convincing Elder Ookawa that I hadn't met with Yuuya alone.

Thanks to that I was enjoying a semi relaxing day. Yuuya might have been pretty lippy but that didn't really factor in when she was too busy comparing clothes.

I checked my phone for the time and my stomach growled even louder. I had skipped breakfast, assuming we'd eat somewhere for dinner.

"Want to get something to eat?"

She only half heard me. "Um-hmm, in a minute,"

I sat heavily on the bench, glad they'd thought about the poor saps that had to wait for friends and girlfriends to finish trying on clothes. When she appeared again, in a summery dress, she sized me up.

"Is your knee hurting from standing for so long?"

"It only bothers me when I actually exert myself,"

"Oh . . . well, I'm glad. I still want to visit a couple more stores," my lip twitched downwards and she flashed me a pert smile. "You're the one who volunteered to babysit me,"

"Actually, I was designated the least suspicious by Agano," I wouldn't say it was unexpected for Yuuya to figure out she was being watched. Her father was awfully blunt.

She seemed insulted. "You? Just a few weeks ago Kaname thought you might have had something to do with the death of an Elder,"

"Forgive me for having an unhealthy obsession with guns," I sneered back.

We both glared. I wasn't in an understanding mood, though I did rationalize that being watched by the Agano was just as bad as working for them.

"I'm not dumb you know. You could have just done me the favor of honestly asking to accompany me in these uncertain times,"

"Yeah, like your father would allow that."

"He allowed this, didn't he?"

Thanks to Kaname's and a couple others nagging him.

"Listen; just forget about the Agano and your father and the rest of the craziness," I doubted that was feasible but saying it might have had some value. "Just keep flaunting those long legs and I won't complain,"

She crossed her arms and glowered at me. I thought she might have been seriously offended but her eyes were definitely sparkling. "Are you flirting with me, Shiranui-san?"

"Maybe," and I would keep flirting too, as long as her old man didn't find out.

Ren's POV

Finding an apartment was almost too easy, what with the help of Suzumu and Toshio. Someone on the third floor of their apartment had moved out suddenly and they managed to hold it for us. The landlady didn't even have to put it in the paper, which she was grateful for.

The only down side to it was Maria was now living with three Oni in the very near vicinity. I was just tempting fate to have her find out. It didn't help that Suzumu was horrible at keeping secrets.

She and Suzumu had almost gotten off on the wrong foot to boot. It was probably Suzumu's perplexed frown when he saw her and his thoughtless quip.

"You're still dating that girl?"

I rubbed my eyes. It was kind of funny, if Maria hadn't looked ready to haul back and punch him.

"Excuse me?"

"I just assumed Ren wasn't really serious,"

"What is with your cousins?! What did you do to make them have so little faith in you?"

Suzumu would have told her too if Toshio hadn't dragged him away.

It was the weekend so I was hoping that we might be able to take our time while unpacking. We'd only just finished moving all of our belongings (most of which were art supplies) into the apartment. Then Maria got called by her work.

She paled, skittering to her shoes while texting furiously on her cell after ending the call.

"What's wrong?"

"Nobody can get a hold of Takamaru, my co-worker. I'm going out to help look,"

This was almost the first time she'd confided to me about her work and I stood to follow her. "I'll help,"

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'm going on my motorcycle anyways,"

I growled, barely audible. Her secret job was really starting to piss me off. I didn't care if I was being a hypocrite, what with my own secrets. At least mine didn't have me out all hours of the night, coming back with scratches and bruises.

The small wounds used to be only every so often, now they were daily. I grit my teeth. "Be careful," I considered following after her on foot.

The appreciating smile and torn eyes were almost enough to make her forgive her then and there. She completely trusted me, despite the secrets on both sides. I felt like following her would betray that trust. Instead, I'd properly ask her about her job when she got back.

Anyways, please review! I might be a chapter behind but I still plan on having everything finished by December 14th! I know I promised two chapters for this Friday but I barely had this one finished and didn't want to completely botch the next chapter. I have two long weekends coming up though and hopefully I'll have time between studying for tests to catch up.