A/N: Hello all! I know, it has taken me an incredibly long time to update, and I apologize. My problem was that at one point I wrote myself into a corner, and couldn't get out. So I had to backtrack, rewrite, etc. But anyway, here's the next chapter, enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen

The clouds drifted lazily by overhead and a faint breeze caused the trees to dance. The current of air swirled across the girl's cheeks and closed eyelids. Kurama smiled faintly to himself, dropping down next to her. He sat for a moment, his hands clasped in his lap, indecisiveness written upon his features. On the one hand she'd be going home at the end of it all, so what was the point in even exploring his feelings for her?

His emerald eyes shifted over to her peacefully sleeping form even as he thought of the flip side: his feelings for her were growing, with or without his permission. Wouldn't it just be easier to admit what he was going through and get it out in the open? "Probably." He muttered, stiffening slightly as she rolled over so she was facing him, practically cuddling against him. A slight pink tinged his cheeks and he rubbed the back of his neck. Somehow what he had always assumed would be simple had turned out to be quite complicated.

"Orange feelings…" Madison murmured, her face scrunching up slightly at something unpleasant.

Kurama sighed; it didn't do any good to sit here worrying about it. "Wake up, Madison." He shook her shoulder gently, his voice soft so as not to startle her. When she didn't respond he shook her a little harder. "Madison. You need to get up."

"Thebedframeatethematress[the bed frame ate the mattress…" She mumbled, her eyes opening ever so slightly.

Kurama looked slightly confused. "Excuse me? I think you were dreaming again."

Madison groaned as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, stretching and yawning. "Dreaming? Why'd you say that?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

Kurama chuckled slightly. "Well I haven't ever heard of bed frames eating mattresses, but perhaps I'm just not aware of that event yet."

Madison sent him a sleepy glare. "No teasing the ogre. I is grumpy when awoken from a nice sleep…or nap, in this case…"

Kurama stood up and dusted himself off before extending a hand to her. "It's time to return home."

Madison pulled herself up, likewise dusting herself off. "Great!"

They got back to her house soon enough (apparently going down the stairs is quite a bit easier than going up ). "Rina, I'm home!" Madison yelled, stepping inside and waving to Kurama. She slipped off her shoes, peering inside. "Rina? Hellooo?" All of the rooms downstairs were clear, so the teen figured her caretaker must be at work. She padded up the stairs to her bedroom, stopping abruptly at the sight of Rina sitting on the bed, staring out of the window. "Rina?"

The woman seemed to rouse herself, her distant eyes turning upon the sandy-haired girl. "Oh. You're back. Did you finish the project?" Her voice was strange, almost monotone, very unlike her usual caring tone.

Madison's brows furrowed slightly; this was very unlike her. "It went fine. Are you sure you're all right Rina?" She stepped forward, causing the other woman to jump up onto her feet. "Yes, yes I'm fine." She walked quickly past her charge, starting down the stairs. She paused half-way down, her gaze on the steps in front of her. "But I've been thinking. I will be speaking to Social Services tomorrow. I believe that it would be best if you were placed somewhere else for…a while." She hurried down the rest of the stairs, shutting the door at the bottom.

Madison's eyes were wide. Whatever had caused Rina to do something like that? She whirled to follow and find out. Surely something terrible must have happened to make the nurse act so strange. She suddenly stopped on the first step as her memories of telling Rina of demons and such came flooding back. "That's why…" She murmured, sinking down onto the floor. She had thought that Rina was fine with the new knowledge, but perhaps that had just been shock. The girl's shoulders drooped and her head sunk down onto her chest, a tear slipping from her clear blue eyes down her freckled cheek. So now not only had she frightened the poor woman, but she was going to have to leave as well. A cloud of depression came down, encircling her, whispering sweet nothings in her ears.

(line break here)

Kurama rapped on the front door, his arms wrapped lightly around Madison's school bag. The wind blew through his red locks, ruffling them. His green eyes wandered around as he waited for the front door to be opened.

Minutes passed before Rina pulled the door open. "Hel-Oh! Shuiichi! You must be here to see Madison." She seemed surprised to see him; something about her casual manner seemed forced. "She's upstairs in her room.

Kurama nodded his thanks, heading up there after slipping off his shoes. "Madison-…" He trailed off, greeted by the sight of the aforementioned Madison curled up in a ball on the floor, her sand-colored tresses splayed out over her face and the floor. There were tears stains on her cheeks and t-shirt. He set down the bag, kneeling next to her and shaking her shoulder gently. "Madison." He said softly as she stirred, her blue eyes fluttering open.

"MMmm…Kurama?" She whispered drowsily, blinking sleepily at him.

"Did something happen?" He asked with concern, sitting back on his heels.

Madison rolled up into a sitting position, rubbing her eyes. They felt puffy and her head was pounding from the tears she had shed hours earlier. "No. Yes. Maybe…" She mumbled, running her fingers through her tangled hair.

Kurama waited patiently while she collected her scattered thoughts, settling into a sitting position on the floor.

It was a few more minutes before she spoke again. "She- No. I should never have told her. She couldn't, can't, handle the knowledge. I thought she could but I was wrong. I've never been more wrong in my life and I feel terrible about it."

Kurama took a moment to sift through what the girl was saying before he asked "What exactly did she say?"

Madison twisted and untwisted her fingers together in her lap. "She said that she had been thinking and had come to the decision that it would be better if I was placed somewhere else."

"Perhaps she really believes that and this move has nothing to do with what you told her." Kurama offered.

Madison shook her head dolefully. "You didn't see her. She was terrified, through and through. And it's all because of me." She ducked her head, feeling tears well up again.

Kurama reached forward and used his forefinger to tilt her chin up. "Look at me." He commanded softly. When she didn't respond he repeated it, a little more forcefully.

Her blue eyes finally came up and met his caring emerald green ones.

"You needn't look so sad. Everyone is still all right. No one died because of you. You made a mistake in telling her, yes," she turned her head away but he reached forward and pulled it back again "but it really was very minor, and it's easily fixed." At her look of confusion he explained "We'll erase her memory."

Madison's sighed. "It doesn't seem right to toy with someone's life like that."

"It's not, but would you rather she spent the rest of her life afraid because of what you told her?" Kurama pointed out.

Madison shook her head slowly. "No, but still…"

Kurama put a finger to her lips. "Sometimes you have to make hard decisions to keep those you care about safe. You may not like it, but she is better off this way." He gave her an encouraging smile, bringing his arm back. His eyes widened as Madison suddenly threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. "Thank you Kurama. I don't know what I would do if you weren't here." came her muffled voice. It took a moment before Kurama got over the shock of her unexpected action. Slowly, cautiously, he settled his arms around her comfortingly. "You're welcome." He said quietly.

They stayed that way for a few more minutes before Madison slowly pulled back. "You probably have stuff to do." She said haltingly, pushing herself onto her feet. Kurama followed suit, shaking his head. "Actually no, I don-" He was cut off as one wall of Madison's room exploded inwards, sending both of them flying.

When the debris had cleared away some Kurama leapt to his feet, his eyes scanning for Madison. A laugh turned his attention to the hole where the wall had once been.

Mitsuko, her hands on her hips, seemed very pleased with what she had seen. "My my Kurama, your skills must be getting dull if you didn't sense me coming. I came very slowly for your sake, but it seems that effort was in vain." She reached back over her head, pulling out a long and very lethal looking blade. She held it nonchalantly in front of her, its razor sharp edge gleaming. "I'm afraid that I'm not here for her this time. My master has ordered your death. I'm very sorry, but it is my job, so don't hold any grudges."

"OWWWWW!" Madison groaned, rolling over.

"Stay down Madison." Kurama ordered through clenched teeth, one hand going up for his rose.

"Too slow!"

Kurama barely had time to leap out of the way of her first attack; a grunt escaped his throat as the blade slammed against his side. It would have gone through him had he not used his hands to propel off it. He slid to a stop across the room, going down on one knee as blood poured from the deep wound. He grabbed his rose, instantly transforming it into the rose whip. It lashed forward, wrapping around the sword as Mitsuko thrust it at him again.

Madison pushed herself up, ignoring Kurama's order. "Kurama, what's…" Her question died on her lips as she saw the scene playing out in front of her. Her first instinct was to lay back down, but she heard Akane snap 'Get over there coward!' Madison scrambled onto her feet, blood pounding in her ears as she launched herself at Mitsuko's back. "KI-YA!"

Mitsuko whirled, sending her bent knee slamming against the girl's stomach. Even as blood flew from Madison's mouth Mitsuko grabbed the teen's throat at hurled her at Kurama.

His eyes widened and he had to transform his whip back into a rose to keep from hurting her. Madison crashed against him, sending them both toppling onto the ground. Kurama's eyes widened as he realized what was coming, too late. The blade pierced through both of them, bouncing off the ground and coming back out.

"Madison!" Kurama exclaimed through clenched teeth, rolling her off him. He pushed himself up onto his knees, one arm wrapped around his own stomach, the other pressing against hers.

Tears had formed and were spilling from her eyes. "D it hurts!" She moaned, feeling blood rising up in her throat. "I'm gonna die!" She whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut.

"You're not going to die! Just hang in there!" Kurama hissed, his mind whirling. He needed to take care of Mitsuko, but he couldn't just leave Madison here like this. "What're you going to do?" He vaguely heard Mitsuko's taunting voice from across the room. But he also heard something else; a shift in the debris. "Madison, I'll be back, I promise!" He squeezed her hand, standing as he grabbed his rose whip.

By the time the rescue teams were able to get in the only occupant of the room was a barely conscious Madison. The medics rushed over, examining and prepping her for transporting to the hospital. "Miss, my name's Hiro. Can you hear me?" One of them asked, shining a light in her eyes; she was barely responsive. "Miss, if you can hear me I need to you to squeeze my hand." He waited, and few moments later her fingers flexed, putting the lightest of pressure on his hand. "Good girl. We're going to get you to the hospital in a few minutes, okay?" He turned his attention from her for a moment, keeping one hand in hers.

Within five minutes she was in the ambulance, a breathing mask over her face and an IV in her arm. Hiro had stayed by her side the entire time, and was currently trying to slow the bleeding. But Madison wasn't really aware of any of this.

'Madison, you'll pull through this.'

Akane spoke for the first time since their complete integration.

'I'm not worried about me. Kurama went after Mitsuko, even though he was injured.'

'Kurama's smart. He'll figure something out.'

'He may be smart, but that doesn't change the fact the he was injured.'

'He's survived worse. Have some faith in him. He promised he'd be back, and he's never broken a promise.'

"I suppose you're right…'

(line break here)

"You're sure you'll be alright at school?" Rina asked anxiously as she handed the backpack to her ward.

Madison smiled reassuringly. "Of course. It's been over a week. If I feel any pain, I'll go to the nurse's office." The bell rang, causing the teen to jump. "Gotta go. Bye!" She shut the door, hurrying into the building. She slid into her seat in her first class, resting her chin on her palm and staring out the window. She had been released from the hospital after three days, and a week later was now allowed to return to school. 'And not once in all that time have I seen Kurama.' She thought worriedly, abstractedly opening her text book to the specified pages.

The day seemed to fly by in a blur of taking notes, catching up, getting assignments, and avoiding probing questions. In the blink of an eye she was out on the front steps of the school, being hustled along by the swarm of teenagers eager to get home. "Madison!" Someone called. She felt her arm being tugged and she was pulled out of the crowd. "Kuwabara!" She exclaimed, bending over as she felt a sharp pain in her stomach.

"Are you alright?" She could hear the worry in Kuwabara's voice and quickly hurried to reassure him. "I'm fine, really." Kuwabara motioned for her to walk with him, taking her bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

Yusuke joined them a moment later on Madison's other side. "You sure you should be going to school just yet Madison? I mean, it's only been a little bit over a week."

Madison smiled. "I'm fine Yusuke, really."

"We don't want you hurting yourself." Kuwabara piped up.

Madison smiled up at him. "I'm not. How could I with you two mother hens keeping an eye on me?" She laughed a little at their slightly shocked expressions then asked abruptly "Hey, do either you know where Kurama's been? I haven't seen around, and he hasn't called me at all, and I'm beginning to worry. I haven't seen him since-"

"You want some ice cream?" Yusuke interrupted, pointing at the ice cream shop a few shops ahead of them on their walk.

Madison shook her head. "No thanks. But do you know?"

Kuwabara and Yusuke looked at each other over her head. "Kurama, he's-" Yusuke started but got interrupted by Kuwabara "-he's in the Spirit World hospital."

Madison stopped, her eyes wide. "What?!"

"Nice going Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted, giving his friend a thwack on the back of the head. "We were told not to worry her!"

Madison tugged on Yusuke's shirt. "Whotoldyounottoworrymeandwhyisheinthehospital [who told you not worry me and why is he in the hospital ?!!?!" She demanded, heavy worry laced through her blue eyes.

Yusuke took her shoulders in his hands. "Madison, he got pretty banged up in his last fight."

The color drained from the girl's face. "Is…is it bad?" She barely dared breathe, and her fingers were turning white from gripping her skirt so tight.

Kuwabara and Yusuke's faced both fell. "They…Things didn't look too good for a while there."

"We were going to talk with Koenma today after dropping you off." Kuwabara piped up.

"I want to see him." Madison twisted her fingers together, fear stabbing painfully at her heart.

"Madison, I don't think that-" Yusuke starting, only to find himself interrupted yet again.

"I need to see him Yusuke!" She pleaded, unbidden tears springing to her eyes.

Yusuke wavered. "Come on, don't cry Madison." 'I don't know how to handle crying females.' He thought to himself, looking helplessly up at Kuwabara, who put a hand on Madison's shoulder. "It'll be better if you just wait for him to come back." The orange haired boy offered, trying to soothe her.

"NO!" She shouted, whirling around and clutching at Kuwabara's shirt. "I have to see him…please…" She whispered. The thought of him lying in the Spirit World hospital, alone, with the possibility of dying and her not seeing him again…knots formed in her stomach so tight she couldn't breathe, and her heart constricted like it might shrivel up and disappear. She wanted to see him – she must!

Yusuke sighed. "Well we can't promise, but if you must see him that badly-OOF!" He was cut off as Madison flung her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. "Thank you."

(line break here)

The door shut softly behind her as the girl gazed at the bed where Kurama lay. She cautiously stepped forward, her socked feet making no sound on the hard floor. 'I've never seen him like this. He seems so…fragile. As if a breath of wind might blow him away…for good…' Her blue eyes took in the tubes and wires leading away from underneath the covers, leading to various monitors and medical contraptions.

She carefully perched on the edge of the bed, almost holding her breath so she wouldn't disturb him. 'I'm so sorry…'

'For what exactly, hmm?' Akane's voice broke into her thoughts.

'For…him being here…' She fumbled.

'You believe that to be your fault?' Akane probed.

'Well no, not exactly. But if I had-'

'Oh get over it. It's not your fault, so stop blaming yourself. He doesn't blame you, and he wouldn't want you to blame yourself either.'

Madison reached over and took Kurama's pale hand between hers. 'He's so pale. … what did she do to him?'

'More than you will ever want to know.'

The red head stirred, his eyes cracking open slightly. "Mad..ison?" He whispered, surprise evident in his voice.

"Kurama!" She exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, bringing his drowsy mind into full wakefulness.

"I came to.…I mean, Yusuke said that.…I needed to see you!" She burst out, tears slipping down her cheeks.

Kurama seemed astonished by her outburst. "Needed…to see me? I thought I told Yusuke and Kuwabara not to worry you too much."

"It's not their fault, I made them tell me." She looked down at her hands, which were still holding his.

"…There's no need to cry, I'm not going to die." Kurama offered awkwardly, unsure of how to comfort her.

"I have every reason to cry. You're lying cooped up in this bed because of me!"

Kurama put a finger to her lips. "That's not true. If that's why you're so worried then stop – the reason I'm lying here has nothing to do with you."

"Shuiichi Kurama Minamino, I am worried about you and I will continue to worry about you for one reason: I love you!" She cried, launching forward and pressing her lips against his.

A/N: There it is folks. Please review, it's always appreciated. I hope to come out with the next chapter MUCH sooner than this one took! xD