Spreading Your Wings

Ch 21: Telling The Story Again

Kelly and Hiei both packed small bags the next morning. They didn't plan on staying long, and even if they did, they had clothes back at Kelly's house.

After informing Mukuro of their trip, the two left with Yukina for Human World. Yukina brought them to the rip that she had come through, and they dropped her off at Genkai's temple, saying hello to the psychic herself. Then they quickly made their way to Kurama's apartment.

The apartment was located in the middle of the town Kurama had originally lived in. It was close to Yusuke's and Kuwabara's apartments. Kelly had only been to Kurama's place twice, Yusuke's once and Kuwabara's once as well. She never really had a need to got to them. Her stay in Japan was spent mainly at Genkai's.

Kelly knocked on the door and waited. Kurama should have been home at that time. He took classes at the local University in the mornings and it was already two o'clock there.

Sure enough, Kurama answered the door after a minute.

"Ah. I didn't expect you two to come so quickly," Kurama said.

Kelly merely narrowed her eyes at him and stepped aside to let Hiei walk forward. He punched Kurama in the face, flinging him backwards. Hiei and Kelly stepped into the apartment, pulling the door closed behind them. They didn't need neighbors witnessing what had just happened and then calling the police. That would be a pain that Hiei and especially Kelly wouldn't want to deal with.

"That," Hiei said through clenched teeth, "was for making my mate cry."

Kurama stood up from where he had landed, in front of an armchair across the room. He rubbed his cheek, searching for blood.

"So, you're mated already? I don't know whether to be surprised or not," he said.

"Fox, don't test my patience. Not today," Hiei growled at him.

"No, I guess that wouldn't be wise. So, you obviously got my letter," Kurama said, "Like I said, I didn't expect you to come so quickly."

Hiei looked to Kelly to see if she would respond, but she didn't. She, merely looked Kurama over, as if looking for something. Kurama stood perfectly still, accepting her judging look.

"Are you absolutely sure, Kurama? You want to drag her inta this already? You can't take it back," she finally asked.

"I'm sure. I love her."

"You barely know each other!"

"And when did you realize that you loved Hiei?"

Kelly opened her mouth, but no words came out. She shut it and gave a huff of frustration. She opened it again, finally having something to say.

"Think, Kurama. I thought you were good at that. This is different. She's human. I wasn't. I was already forced inta this world. She still has a shot at a normal human life. Do you want to take that away from her?"

Kurama struggled with this one. Kelly could see it on his face. The guilt, the uncertainty, and still the resolve.

"Does she love you too, Kurama?" she asked quietly.

Kurama looked down at the floor and said, "I don't know." He looked back up at Kelly. "You can tell me. You'll know."

"No, I won't. You can't do that to me."

"Kelly, please. I'm asking this as a friend. And for Brittany as well. If you don't believe that she loves me, then I won't tell her. But if you think she does then I will tell her."

Kelly's shoulders sagged. Kurama was basically begging her now. She looked him over again, but knew that she wouldn't find what she was looking for until he was with Brittany.

"Fine, but you still owe me."

"Deal."

And so, the three found themselves at Brittany's door a half hour later. Kurama had scheduled a date with Brittany that day. Her family was out until late that night, and he had promised to come over and cook dinner for her, saying that he was at his "relatives" house for the rest of the month.

Koenma provided a portal for them, as he had been doing fro Kurama for the past two months. The portal brought them out down the street from Brittany's house. Kelly decided not to visit home just yet. She wanted to get this over with first.

Brittany answered the door, saw who was there, and instantly flung herself at Kelly.

"You're here!" she screamed as she clung to Kelly's neck. Kurama and Hiei watched in amusement as Kelly staggered backwards.

"Yeah, and I would like to remain here, Brit. Not die from strangulation," she huffed out.

Brittany let go of Kelly, but grasped her wrist, pulling her into her house. "You gotta tell me all about Tokyo!"

"Ah, right… Tokyo…"

Brittany let got of Kelly when they reached the living room. Kelly sat down in the armchair near the entrance with Hiei moving to take his place beside her.

She watched as Brittany greeted Kurama, searching their faces. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Hiei was searching as well. The other two gave each other a quick peck on the lips. As they pulled back, Kelly saw it. That look in their eyes. She had seen it in her parents' eyes when they looked at each other and she saw it when Hiei looked at her.

He turned to look at her now. He had seen it too.

This was so not cool.

Kurama and Brittany moved to sit on the couch. When they were comfortable, Brittany turned back to Kelly.

"So, tell me 'bout Tokyo! Is it anything like here? Like Philly?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah… Tokyo…" Kelly mumbled as she looked anywhere but at the two on the couch.

"Kelly?"

"I think that Kurama should tell ya 'bout Tokyo," answered glumly. She still refused to look at the two.

"Kurama? But why…?" Brittany turned to look at him curiously.

Kurama cleared his throat and Brittany was surprised to see he was nervous. She had never seen him like that before.

"Brit… There's some things that Kelly and I have to tell you. Some big things," he said slowly.

"What things?"

"Let's start off this way. Do you believe in demons?"

"Demons?" Brittany asked, thrown off by the question. She looked over at Kelly who now had her head in her hands, looking at the ground.

Hiei however, watched Brittany intently. She met his gaze, looking into his crimson irises. She had been surprised by the color of his eyes the first time they had met. It wasn't natural. But she had never questioned it because Kelly seemed to accept it. But now… they weren't normal at all. And his headband too. Why did he wear it? She had never asked Kelly about that either.

"Maybe you should have," Hiei told her.

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "What?" she squeaked.

"Knock it off, Hiei," Kelly said as swiped a hand at him, without looking up. And then, to top it all off, she said something in a language Brittany had never heard before. It wasn't anything close to English or Japanese, the only two languages she expected Kelly to speak. Maybe Spanish from school, but that wasn't it either.

Brittany turned back to Kurama. "What's going on Kurama?"

Kurama took a deep breath and then began his story. He started by telling her about the three world, then about demons. And then, it was his story. He made sure to leave out some parts. He would tell them to her later, or maybe not at all.

Brittany sat quietly, not asking any questions, not saying anything at all. She merely sat and watched Kurama's face, displaying no emotion.

It was only when Kurama pulled a rose out of his hair and made his rose whip that she showed surprise. Her eyes widened and her mouth made an "O" shape.

When he put the whip away she finally said, "But you're still… kinda… Human, right?"

"A demon in a human's body. Shuuichi is my human name. Kelly only introduced me as Kurama because that is how she knows me," he answered.

Brittany looked over at Kelly who still sat with her head in her hands. Hiei nudged her and she looked up at him. They simply stared at each other, emotions flitting across Kelly's face like they would were she having a conversation.

"What are they doing?" Brittany asked Kurama in a whisper.

"Hiei's a telepath," Kelly answered instead, finally turning to Brittany, "He can speak through his mind. He can also, well, see really far. Find things that are miles and miles away."

"He's a demon too?"

"Yes."

Brittany looked back and forth between the two.

"But he's not in a human body," she stated.

"No. He's completely demon."

Brittany stared at her best friend.

"Even if I was fully human, there's nothing wrong with it," Kelly said sternly, thinking of Kuwabara and Yukina.

"You're… not human?"

"Not anymore…" And then she launched into her own story, the shortened version. Less Inoji and Lon, and more ofher friends and abilities.

"So… a half-demon…" Brit said slowly.

Kelly nodded. "And I don't live in Tokyo."

"I figured. Where do you live?"

"In Demon World. With Hiei."

Brittany's eyebrows rose as she looked between the two again.

Kelly sighed. "It's not like that, Brit. It's diff'rent for demons."

"Different?"

"Yes. Diff'rent."

"You're gonna make the mistake my mom did," she said quietly.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Yeah, my mom's mistake too, Brit. She may have been married but I was still a mistake. You think I haven't thought of that? But like I said, it's diff'rent for demons."

The two girls simply sat there, staring at each other, while the two males sat quietly, their eyes flickering back and forth. This wasn't something they could interfere with.

"So it's normal for demons to just sleep with other demons whenever they want to?" Brittany asked.

"Brittany! Don't talk about stuff you don' know!" Kelly said sternly, "Hiei and I… we're as good as married in the demon world. But yes, it is normal." Then under her breath she muttered, "And it's somewhat normal here too."

"Good as married?" Brittany asked in confusion.

"Yes," Kurama answered, "Kelly and Hiei are married in a demon sense. They have been most likely since they left this world."

Kelly nodded. "Brittany, I learned from our mom's mistakes. From all those other teenage girls who got pregnant. I'm not stupid. But it's diff'rent now. For me, it's diff'rent. It's normal where I'm living. If that happened, it wouldn't be a mistake. Don' worry about me, Brit. I know what I'm doin'."

Brittany sighed. "I know you do. I jus'… It's a lot to take in… I don't wanna loose you…"

"You'll never loose me. I jus' will be a little diff'rent, or should I say, the same."

"What?"

"Kurama lived a thousand years before he was injured and came to Human World. I prob'ly won't live as long, but I'll live much longer than humans. I've already started to slow down. I'll prob'ly look eighteen for hundreds of years."

"Hundreds…?" Brittany seemed to struggle with the concept. She turned to Kurama. "Will you live a long time too?"

"No. I am in a human body. I will age as a human would. However, when I die I will most likely return to my demon form, though I'm not really sure," he answered.

"So, you wouldn't even die? You wouldn't go to… Spirit World like I would?" she asked sadly.

"No, I don't think so… not right away, at least. When I die as YoukoI would thengo to Spirit World."

"Youko… the fox, right?"

"Yes."

"Will I ever meet him?"

Kurama hesitated before answering, "Maybe… one day."

She nodded then turned to look over at Kelly and Hiei, then back to Kurama. "Why are you telling me all this now?"

"And… that's where we leave!" Kelly said as she stood up. Brittany looked at her in surprise. "Don' worry. Kurama will explain everything to you."

She walked over to Brittany who now stood. They stood for a moment, just looking at each other until Kelly hugged Brittany tightly.

"No matter what happens, I will always be your best friend. Always. I'll always be Kelly. Just a little diff'rent. But I'll always be the girl in all those pictures of us, Brit. The little girl who spent her days listening to music and playing video games instead of putting on make-up and playing dress-up. That little girl's still here. And the teenager too. The one who would pull you along for crazy adventures at the mall and who ate a bunch of crap with you and always went to bed with a stomach ache. She's here too. And an adult will be there too. Jus' diff'rent from other adults. But le's face it, I was never meant for a normal life. I was always born to turn out diff'rent."

"Yeah… that's definitely true…" Brittany said through the slow tears that fell from her eyes. She hugged Kelly back, just as tight, knowing that she wasn't going to get a chance to do it much in the future. "Love you."

"Yeah, love you too," Kelly whispered back, as her own tears began to fall.

i took the spellings of Shuuichi and Youko straight from the manga, as i did Suzuki so please dont tell me i spelt it wrong. i tend to lean towards the maga on spelling, and any issues that i cant decide over. why? cause the manga's the origianl and it's the "true" Yu Yu Hakusho in my opinion. but if i like something in the anime better, i take it from there.

and i know Brittany kinda took it all really well, but that's just the way she is. she's not as smart as Kelly, as i've hinted towards, but she's a lot calmer and more level headed. she can be smart, she's just slower than Kelly, but thats not a bad thing. she thinks things through more thouroughly than Kelly does because shes aware that shes not the brightest person in the world. so her reaction isnt all that unexpected. but Kelly does comment on it more in the next chapter so if you still think it's not right, dont worry, neither does Hiei and Kelly (well kelly kinda expected it, but not to this extent).