HOLY CRAP BATMAN! WE HAVE AN UPDATE!

Okay, so earthquakes have been scaring the shit outta me and I just remembered that I had a lot of school work to do this week because I didn't do it last week. Then I got sidetracked watching Friday Night Lights and Four Brothers over and over again so yeah…my bad. Then I went crazy trying to fix the dryer in the basement cuz I think I broke it…somehow…I know… I suck.

Now time for something completely different!

Dc-chan: HEY EVERYONE! How were your holidays? Mine was spiffy! I got a scanner and do you know what that means? –long awkward pause- …it means I can put pictures up on my deviantART account! –jumps up and down- EVERYBODY DANCE NOW!

(note the stupid complete 180-degree mood change XD)

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH. I just borrow the characters to fulfil my own devious amusement.

DEDICATION: This is dedicated to my good friend who passed away. We all miss you so much Momo. Oct 22 2006

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Chapter 25 of Define 'Normal'

His Little Rose

The buildings on the busy streets of the city were lined with colorful lights. Festive lights were hung from lamppost to lamppost, like a never-ending string of white lights. The barren tree branches had thin layers of snow on them that occasionally fell on some unfortunate person who walked under them right at the wrong time. On the sidewalks there were alternating sheets of powdery snow and ice. The sun had just set so the sky was a dark purple and due to the city's haze, only a few stars could be seen, but the sliver of a moon hung overhead brightly like a shining beacon.

To make the mood even more elevating, it was Christmas. During this time of year Kira was accustomed to different traditions like presents and Santa movies. However, it didn't sink in last year during this time that Christmas in Japan was much different than the holiday in America where little children would eagerly await the arrival of Santa Claus. In Japan it was a holiday for couples, something which shocked the hell out of Kira when it was explained to her.

"Really?" Kira gave Kuwabara a disbelieving stare as if he was just pulling this out of his ass and expecting her to believe him.

"DUH! Geez, Kamiyama, you were here for Christmas last year and you didn't pick it up then?" He snickered at her confused face.

Kira clicked her tongue, feeling foolish in front of her friends. At least it was better being here than training at Genkai's, even if she was making an idiot out of herself. She would take that over training anytime. It had been a bit of a surprise that Genkai had given them the day off, but none of them complained about it. They all had been worked to the bone and until they felt like their muscles were about to explode from pain. Genkai had specifically been hard of Kira and Yusuke during their first week, mainly because Kurama and Kuwabara weren't her students. She probably regarded their presence there with as much attention as one would give to a blank wall.

So, there the four of them were walking around in the city, pleasantly enjoying themselves. Due to the cold weather they were all wearing heavy jackets, scarves and pants except for Kira who wore a knee length skirt and stockings that covered her shins. Everyone time they breathed or talked a warm white puff of breathe would escape their lips and linger in front of them for a second before disappearing into the cold air.

"Anyways," Kuwabara continued nonchalantly as he put his hands into his pockets, "I'm meeting Yukina somewhere. See you guys at the train later."

"Yeah, I'm meeting Keiko so I'll be going. I don't want to be slapped again." Yusuke chimed in as he and Kuwabara took off in opposite directions, leaving Kira and Kurama standing by themselves on a street corner.

No! Don't leave me here alone with him! Kira screamed at them in her head. Despite the fact that she and Kurama had been getting along well the past few days, she was nervous to be alone with him.

Kurama didn't seem to mind Yusuke and Kuwabara's departure, in fact, he preferred to have some time with Kira to himself. Although he could tell from the apprehensive look in Kira's eyes that she wasn't thinking the same thing. He soon realized that his eyes were glued on Kira, she was wearing her hair up in two half-ups like she had on that night when he had kissed her on the cheek. He pried his eyes off of her, remembering the pain of that night. Go slow with her. He told himself.

"Is there anything you want to do tonight?" He asked her with a smile.

Kira looked up at him with wide innocent eyes, almost as if she was astonished that he was talking to her. She quickly furrowed her brows and tried to play it off cool as she answered in a nonchalant voice. "Not really…" She then spied an ice-skating rink at the park across the street from where they were and immediately forgot that she was trying to act like she didn't want to do anything. "That could be fun though," she rolled her teeth over her bottom lip as she added in a whisper, "but we ice skated last year."

"That shouldn't stop you if you want to do it again." Kurama said as he unconsciously grabbed her hand. "Do you want to?" He asked the question earnestly.

Kira's face reddened, but for some reason she didn't mind him holding her hand so much this time. "Yeah." She nodded her head. She liked the feeling of him holding her hand now and she didn't know why, his hand was so warm and gentle it gave her a budding feeling of security.

A few minutes later both of them were sitting on a bench next to the rink lacing up their rented ice-skates. Kira double knotted her laces just to be safe, knowing her luck they would probably somehow magically happen to slip off of her foot and cause her to land flat on her face.

As soon as she finished she got onto the ice rink and waited for Kurama. He followed her with an unsure expression on his face. The whole situation was feeling awkward to both of them now, however both seemed to be trying to maintain their poise.

"Man, if everyone else was here this would be just like last year." Kira said reminiscing, breaking the silence between the two. "I think that was the first time I ever really spent with a group of kids my own age and had fun."

Kurama looked down at her as they skated beside each other with raised eyebrows. "Didn't you have friends in New York?"

"Well…I don't know if I could call them friends, that's an awfully strong word to use. I just hung out with them because nobody else would talk to me, but them. They were the trouble making kind of kids so it was kinda expected of me to be in their little group." She explained with a frown. "To be honest though, I never liked any of them. They were all assholes."

He didn't know what to say. To be honest with himself, he never thought about what it was like growing up for her in New York. She seemed like the type of person who attracted other people without trying to with her energetic and cynical demeanor. He knew she had trouble getting close to people, but it was almost impossible for him to imagine her not having any friends. She always enjoyed being around Yusuke, Kuwabara and everyone else, but he started wondering how close she felt with them and how well any of them actually knew her.

Kira started becoming uneasy by his silence. She lowered her eyes to the ice that she was skating on, trying to focus on the curves in the ice craved by other skaters.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kurama asked quietly, sounding concerned. This was an opportunity to learn more about her, maybe this would give him some insight about her.

She crinkled her nose as she began skating backwards so she could face him while talking. "Not really…it's kinda boring."

"Kira." He said rolling his green eyes. "If it's you we're talking about, how can it be boring? You're not a boring person."

She laughed at him. "I guess not, I always thought my life would making an interesting reality TV show." She bit her bottom lip and put her hands behind her back. "I just don't like thinking about what happened." Kira then gave him a sly look. "I suppose I will divulge my deepest darkest secrets to you about my gloomy past, but in exchange you have to answer a question I ask you," she paused before adding hastily, "honestly."

"That sounds fair." He replied with a half smile. "So, what happened in New York?"

Kira exhaled heavily before she started in a lowered voice, "It's quite stupid really. At first, everything was dandy, but you know how it gets in later in elementary school. Everyone started forming cliques and usually everyone fits into one, but somehow I got left out. Kids started picking on me probably thinking that because I didn't have any friends that I wouldn't be able to defend myself. Boy, were they wrong." She shook her head as she remembered some of those memories when someone tried to tease her, but she gave them a good ass kicking in return. "It was like that until middle school, that's when I started hanging out with those assholes."

"You think that's stupid?" He asked breathlessly.

Kira shrugged. "The reason I said it was stupid was because when I think about it, everyone feels like they don't fit in and I'm sure there's a point in everyone's life when they feel like they don't belong anywhere. Maybe I didn't try to fit in…maybe I was just the sacrificial lamb in the social cesspool they call school. I'm just embarrassed that I used to be that way. I used to think something was wrong with me." She laughed jokingly at herself.

It all seemed to place itself together in Kurama's head as if he was finally able to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He had never known this about her before and it was starting to make sense to him. It wasn't that she didn't want to get close to people it was just she didn't know how.

She stopped skating and leaned against the wall that surrounded the ice rink. "Stupid, ne?" She grinned up at him despite the queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had never told anyone about that before, it felt good to get it out in the open. "Now," she stated as she friendly punched Kurama on his shoulder, "I get to ask you a question."

"Hm?" Kurama blinked, he had almost forgotten about that little term. He apprehensively watched her as she stood up straight with her lips formed in a mischievous smirk. He sweatdropped, not knowing what to expect from her. It was almost impossible for him to guess what was on her mind most of the time.

"And remember," she said while wagging a finger at him, "you have to be completely honest with me."

"S-sure." He stuttered, trying to ignore the fact that she looked cute when she was being serious. "What is it?"

She pursed her lips together for a moment, almost as if she was rethinking what she wanted to ask him. "Well…it's really just a dumb question now that I'm thinking about it, but I want to hear what you have to say." Kira took a deep breath and plunged in, there was no going back now. "Do you really like me in, you know, that kind of way?"

Kurama felt his body tense, he certainly wasn't counting on being asked that. However, his shock was quickly replaced with an angry annoyance. Wasn't it obvious at all? He wanted to scream. He wanted to shake her until it penetrated that thick skull of hers. How did Rika raise such a dense daughter?

"Well?" Kira pressed as she twiddled her thumbs. "I just want to know."

He put his hands on her rosy cheeks and locked eyes with her. "Kira, what makes you think I don't like you that way?"

"I just wanted to hear you say it." She said simply as she dropped her arms to her sides. "I understand words better than actions."

"Really?" He said calmly with a hint of deviousness in his tone. "Then you'll understand it when I say that I do like you."

She nodded slowly, a blush spreading across her face. "I understand that quite well. You know, it's kinda funny," she pulled away from him slightly, "when I first came back here I thought it was just going to be another dead end in my life, but it wasn't. Some good things happened, some bad things happened…" Kira trailed off and scratched the side of her head. "Look at me, I'm rambling."

Kurama stared at her, his complete opposite in almost every aspect. In her own weird way she was saying she liked him too. Of course she wasn't the type to be straight forward.

"Kira," he hesitantly wrapped an arm around her small waist and pulled her in against his chest while his free hand entwined his fingers in her hair, "I really do like you."

Kira hesitantly raised her hands to grasp the front of his jacket, she clutched the fabric in her trembling hands. "You're not just saying that to get into my pants, are you?" She chided, despite how vulnerable she was feeling. She was a hopeless little puddle of goo in his arms. If he wanted to whisk her away right this second she didn't think she had the presence of mind to stop him.

He gently laughed into her hair. "Yes Kira, you've figured me out. How did you know my plan all along?"

"Lucky guess." She replied tilting her head up to look at him. "I always knew you were a pervert. No way a guy as straight edge as you couldn't have a few little nasty secrets, but alas, I have found you out."

"You know exactly how to ruin a tender moment."

"It's a gift."

"Do you want to go somewhere else?"

"Yeah…."

They returned their rented ice skates and left the rink. By the time they left, it was lightly snowing and had gotten a bit colder. Kira had latched herself to Kurama's arm in an effort to stay warm. It was still early in the evening so they didn't feel rushed to do anything, but they had to keep in mind that the last train ride out to where Genkai lived would depart at 11:00PM. That gave them roughly 3-4 more hours to gallivant around the city.

Kira leaned her head against his shoulder and laced her fingers with his. "Where are we going?" It occurred to her that they had started walking without a planned destination.

"The park?" He suggested languidly. "I bet there isn't anyone there. It should be nice and secluded."

"You ARE trying to get into my pants, perverted kitsune." She teased jovially.

"No, I just thought that it would be nice to be somewhere where there aren't many people around." Kurama responded rather crossly. He squeezed her hand. "Youko is the one who wants to get into your pants, I'm very different than him."

"You're right," Kira agreed, "Youko's libido is too active for his own damn good."

"So, do you want to go to the park?"

"Lead the way."

It was just as Kurama predicted, the park was desolate. A fresh blanket of snow, which sparkled in the moonlight, covered the trees and the grass in the park as well as the benches. So much for sitting down on one.

"It is really quiet." Kira noted as her eyes darted back and forth between the shadows of the trees. "Almost scary."

"Do you want to go back?" Kurama gestured over his shoulder to the city.

"Hell no." She replied tugging him forward.

It was so quiet and peaceful. It was the kind of tranquility that was enjoyed as they strolled through the park. Kira was content with telling Kurama corny jokes as she hung onto his arm and he would always laugh politely or raise an eyebrow.

"You have no sense of humor." Kira noted with a sigh.

"I do, just not one for tasteless jokes." He replied.

She crinkled her nose at him. "I suppose I won't tell you the one about emo grass and normal grass then…" She said with a slight frown. It was then that she heard the sound of snow crunching beneath someone's feet. "Eh?" Kira looked over her shoulder where the strange noise had come from and squinted her eyes as she tried to peer through the dark shadows. I've got a bad feeling.

Kurama stiffened as a familiar scent filled his nostrils.

Kira noticed his concerned face and pulled at his sleeve. "What is it?"

He remained quiet for a moment, his eyes darting around trying to figure out where it was going to come from. His sensitive ears picked up the faint noise of footsteps on their left. Without a seconds delay, he grabbed Kira and pulled her out of the way just a as a small shadowy creature leapt out from behind a bush, swinging its claws violently at them.

"What the…that isn't what I think it is, is it?" Kira asked as they stared down the shadow creature. She remembered when she and Kurama had encountered a horde of these things in his classroom a little more than a month ago.

Kurama's hands tightened into fists as he yelled. "Ranmyaku? What is the meaning of this?"

They heard the sound of clapping and whirled around to see the culprit leaning against a tree with an amused smirk on his face. "Good to see you two again." He ran a gloved hand through his light blonde hair. He snapped his fingers and his minion disappeared into a small black cloud of smoke. "I just like keeping people on their toes. I'm not here to start a fight, I just wanted to catch your attention."

"Well, you sure as hell have it now." Kira hissed through clenched teeth. "Why are you here? Zetsubou is dead, isn't he?"

Ranmyaku held his stomach as he laughed at her statement. He wiped a tear of laughter from his right eye before answering. "Yes, he sure is. Not that any of us care. I'm here to deliver a message to the kitsune."

"What is it?" Kurama asked after quickly raising a hand up to silence Kira before she could say something.

"Don't get too attached." Ranmyaku said blandly as he put his arms behind his head and walked in a circle around the two teenagers.

Kurama stared at him with ruthless eyes. He knew what Ranmyaku was talking about while Kira was still busy mulling those words over in her head. It made perfect sense.

It was a threat.

A threat to him from Kokuei.

"So, you really worked for him, didn't you?" Kurama didn't want to disclose the name in front of Kira. It would only cause more problems especially since she had so much faith that Kokuei wasn't a bad guy at all.

Ranmyaku grinned from ear to ear. "You are a clever kitsune." He paused as he put his hand over his mouth to snicker before continuing. "He also asked me to leave you with a parting gift. I think you'll like it." He grabbed his own left arm and a dark swirling black energy began surrounding it at once. "Sword of Bones!"

The sword that was made of the bones from Ranmyaku's arm had doubled in length from their last fight and the blood that dripped from the tip of the blood melted the snow it landed upon, almost is if it were acidic. Someone had clearly been doing their training and taking their morning vitamins.

"Kira, get out of the way." Kurama warned as he reached into his hair and pulled out his Rose Whip.

"No way-"

"Kira." He said sternly, side glancing at her. "I don't want you to get hurt. This is between him and me."

"But-"

"Please."

Kira heaved her shoulders over in defeat and took a few huge steps backwards. Even she knew that arguing in this situation would only make it worse and it would distract Kurama.

Ranmyaku lifted his sword over his head before lunging at Kurama and slashing downwards with the blade. Kurama rolled out of the way just in time for Ranmyaku only to hit the thin layer of snow beneath their feet. Kurama whipped his whip around, trying to destroy Ranmyaku's weapon, as he preferred not to kill someone in front of Kira. However, Ranmyaku pulled his sword out of the way so Kurama's Rose Whip wouldn't slice through it. It wasn't easy to tell who had the advantage in this battle. Both had advantages and disadvantages. Fighting from long range enabled Kurama to avoid most of Ranmyaku's attacks, but Ranmyaku's surprising increase of speed made it hard for him to get a direct hit.

The struggle went on back and forth, their attacks becoming increasingly fierce with every strike.

Kurama tried to grope his mind for how he could end this fight. His eyes studied Ranmyaku carefully as he tried to catch his breath. Ranmyaku yielded no indications of tiring and wasn't even sweating. Something was not right. There was something about his opponent that seemed different from the first time they fought, obviously his sword was massive compared to what it had been, but their was something else…something he couldn't quite place.

He was about to conjure a plant to grab Ranmyaku and restrain him of his movements, but he was too slow. Ranmyaku's blade swiftly slashed his chest, tearing his jacket as blood splattered onto the white snow. Kurama double override from the gash as it stung painfully. He gripped his chest as blood spilled over his hands. He could feel the wound was quite deep, but at the same time it was nothing extremely serious, however, it felt as if someone might as well had given him a paper cut between the wedges on his fingers.

Ranmyaku stood in front of Kurama with a decisive sneer on his face. "From my master to you, this will be your only warning." He then vanished in a black portal, leaving no trace or footprint left behind, as if he was never there.

Kira ran over to Kurama and knelt down beside him. "Kurama?" Her voice was filled with panic and concern. She put his arm around her neck and helped him onto his feet slowly. "Can you walk?"

"Yes…it's just a scratch on my chest. I'll be fine."

Kira narrowed her eyes. "You won't be fine if you bleed to death, so start moving." She ordered harshly, not knowing that the wound was less serious than it appeared. In her mind images of how she envisioned beating the crap out of Ranmyaku played over and over. Bastard. Just what the hell is he doing here anyway? And what did he mean by, "Don't get too attached," anyway?

…

"I got you some more bandages Kurama!" Kira said as she kicked the door to his room open and walked in carrying another five rolls of medical tape in her arms.

Kurama sweatdropped as he sat at the foot of his bed. "Kira, I don't need anymore. I think this is over kill." He then pointed to his chest, which was devoid of his shirt now, indicating to her that he had already wrapped his own wound. He still couldn't help, but think it was cute of her to run out to a drugstore this late at night to get more medical tape for him even when he didn't need it.

"It's the thought that counts anyway." She pouted and dumped the rolls of tape beside him on his bed. "Then we'll just use them when it's time to change your bandages then." She glanced over to the digital clock on his bedside table and exhaled heavily. "It's already past midnight…we missed the train back to Genkai's. Gram's gonna kill me." She flopped down on his bed with her arms spread out.

"We'll just get up early tomorrow and catch a train then. She'll understand when we tell her what transpired tonight." Kurama reasoned as he laid down on his back next to her, his chest writhed in pain for a brief second, but it quickly subsided and he was able to relax next to her.

"Some Christmas, ne?" Kira commented stifling a yawn. She turned on her side so she was facing him. "Does it still hurt?"

"A little." He responded honestly turning his head to look at her. "I'll be fine though."

"Who said I was worried? All you youkai jump back quickly." Kira retorted rolling her eyes. She sat back up and put her hands in her lap. It was too late for her to go home and she didn't think she would be able to walk to her place without falling asleep in the middle of the sidewalk. "Looks like I'm staying here tonight." She grumbled scratching her chin. "You're stuck with me, Kurama."

"I don't have any objections." He said fondly as he placed his hand on the small of her back.

Kira felt her cheeks turn red at the show of affection. This was something she was going to have to get used to if she and Kurama were going to be together. Over time, she supposed she would, but right now it felt very awkward for her. It felt like she was wobbling around in three-inch heels.

"Of course you don't." She remarked icily, laying back down next to him and resting her head on his shoulder. "You just can't wait to take my panties off, can you?"

Kurama's face flushed. "Can you please refrain from using those poor jokes? You might give Youko ideas."

It's not like Youko didn't try before though, Kira reminded herself bitterly. She rubbed her eyes. "Sorry, wouldn't want to do that." She lazily put her arm around his midsection, not knowing if it was something that was okay to do ,but she was too tired to care either way. "Night, I'm going to sleep."

Kurama blinked at her. "Like this?" Both of their legs were dangling over the side of the bed and the light in his room wasn't even turned off yet. He thought it would be rather uncomfortable sleeping in this position, but his muscles ached too much to protest any further.

Kira laughed at him. "Yeah, it's not like I'm going to get under the covers with you just yet." She stuck her tongue out at him before closing her eyes and entering a quiet sleep.

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Dc-chan: Yeah…there's now a picture of Kokuei on my DA account (and he's shirtless, go figure) so check it out.

NEXT CHAPTER: Afterthoughts

ROCK ON AND LOVE AND PEACE,

Dc-chan

(GARRETT HEDLUND! Hehe, I love him.)

Reviews are GREATLY appreciated! -wink, wink, nudge, nudge-

P.S. Check out my Eragon story, Spiraling Out of Control, if you want to decrease your IQ by about 20 points. That's going to be the next big project I'm working on besides some other odds and ends. Also it will make me happy and motivate me to update THIS story faster, okies? Which reminds me…this story only has about ten chapters left!