Bah. I rewrote this chapter 9 times (yes, I counted) and I have come to the conclusion that I'm becoming too obsessive with this story. After all, it's just a fan fic…not a fucking novel. So, therefore I say: Fuck it.

Dc-chan: Argh. I'm annoyed with myself right now. I have all these half-written chapters for other fics that I thought I would put up, but I never did because I realized I would NEVER follow through with them (I have an Ouran Host Club one and a Crescent Moon one that I've been sitting on for weeks). Then, to aggravate myself further, I reread this story (for the millionth time) and realized that there are so many loose ends and unexplained things (don't get me started on those either…) that there will inevitably have to be a THIRD installment. That could be a good thing though as I'm rather fond of Kira now. However, I am getting rather bored writing this story. It's been almost a freaking year…where does the time go? Anyway, I've already written the last chapter of this story and I'm quite pleased with it (hence the wait between updates), but all of you will have to wait to read it. HAHA! Victory is MINE! I just have to work out everything between this chapter to that chapter in the meantime…argh.

MCT: You've gotten lazy recently.

Seraph: Yeah, an entire month and no updates. What's with that, huh?

Dc-chan: It's called supreme laziness and procrastination. I can't help it. Really. I can't. Oh, and there was a huge writer's block in there somewhere…

Disclaimer: Don't own so please refrain from suing. YYH is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi. I merely own Kira's soul.

Kinda short chapter. P: I'm pretty scatterbrained so go easy on me.

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 26 of Define 'Normal'

Afterthoughts

Shiori busied herself with cooking breakfast in the kitchen. It was early in the morning and she felt tired, but she knew that if she didn't make breakfast for her family no one else would. She brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her eyes and tucked them behind her ear gingerly with one hand as the other worked on stirring a bowl of pancake mix that was almost ready.

However, she was feeling a bit confused. She had been having trouble sleeping last night and had been feeling a bit under the weather, but she swore she heard Kurama go into his room last night.

Being curious as she was, she decided it would be better time to investigate now then never.

Leaving the bowl of pancake mix where it was she went upstairs to Kurama's room. If she remembered correctly, he had told her he was going away for two weeks for something school related. She didn't remember exactly what he had said, but she indeed recalled him telling her that he'd be away for two weeks.

She walked daintily to her son's door, being careful to not have the floorboards creak from under her. With the mixing spoon still in her right hand, she slowly turned the doorknob with her left and pushed the door open with utmost care. She opened it only a few inches, just enough for her to peer inside.

Shiori's eyes grew wide and her lips parted slightly in silent surprise at what she saw, but her lips gradually began to break into a softhearted smirk.

She spied her son sleeping on his bed with Kira cuddled up next to him, her hand around his midsection and tightly clutching the fabric of his shirt and her head resting on his shoulder. However, she was a little shocked to see her son's hand placed rather 'forwardly' and protectively on Kira's lower back. She had no idea her own son could be so forward, especially with a girl like Kira.

Both were sleeping so soundly and looked so comfortable that Shiori knew she would feel guilty if she roused them for something as trivial as breakfast. She hummed quietly to herself as she cautiously closed the door to his room and twirled the spoon in her hand as she walked back to the kitchen, a small smile on her delicate face.

My son has a girlfriend!-and it's Kira-chan! I must call Rika! Such a golden opportunity was too good to pass up. But first…she had to finish making pancakes.

She was immersed in darkness again. She couldn't see anything, everything was black. She felt like there was a huge knot welling up in her stomach, nauseating her, making her want to scream at the top of her lungs because it felt so terrible.

She raised her hands to her eye-level and brought them close to her face. Ever so faintly, she could see the outline of her tiny hands. Maybe her eyes were finally adjusting to the dark? She breathed a heavy sigh of relief however; everything around her was still shrouded in darkness.

Her ears picked up the sound of faint laughter that gradually become louder and louder until it was right next to her ear. She could feel someone's warm breath against her ear, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up as her body involuntarily trembled while their laughter rang in her ears.

She whirled around and groped in the darkness with her hands only to find no one was there. She was alone and frightened.

She sank to the cold ground beneath her feet as she buried her face in her arms to hide her tears…

Kira's eyes slowly fluttered open. She felt stiff so she stretched her arms over her head casually before remembering not to move too much or else she'd wake up Kurama. Despite her desire to stay still she sat up anyway. She brought her knees in close to her chest and rested her head on her folded arms then focused her eyes on Kurama.

She had a hunch that they were 'together' now, if that even meant anything. Last night, before she had fallen asleep, her mind had been filled with her own ideas and expectations that were now on going to be expected of her: Would she call him her boyfriend? Would they go on dates? Would they hold hands in public?

After all, such things were expected, weren't they? It seemed quite absurd to her. Would she now have to change in order to keep a relationship with him? Public display of affection really wasn't her thing.

She felt like chuckling at her perception on relationships for it seemed rather shallow.

However, her dream still lingered in her mind. It was like a bad taste that was stuck in her mouth, like she had just eaten some very rotten eggs and she felt that at any moment she was going to puke. She felt almost sick with herself.

That dream…it's like the same thing almost every time, but this time he wasn't in it. Though I'm pretty sure that was him laughing.

Kokuei...that was his laughter, she was positive there was no doubt about it.

To be honest with herself, she didn't want to think too much about it now. Here she was laying peacefully with her boyfriend, even just calling him that in her mind made her cheeks flush furiously, and she was thinking about another guy. But could she blame herself? It was hard to think about one person when another is constantly haunting your dreams. However, she found it quite hard to preoccupy her wandering thoughts with anything else other than the topic of Kokuei.

She continued to gaze at Kurama and grinned slightly at how peaceful he looked sleeping. It didn't seem possible that the demon spirit of Yoko resided within him. He was so cute with his eyes closed and wisps of crimson hair in his face. Still, not even his lovable appearance while slumbering could make her feel less guilty about having thoughts of Kokuei as well as ones about him.

When did her life get so complicated? When had it suddenly become similar to a crummy cable soap opera?

It was then that she was noticed how her eyes were brushing over him. She hadn't realized he had abs or even biceps before, but now all these things suddenly became apparent to her. She now understood why the girls at the school fawned over him, he was like an Adonis: handsome, muscular, smart…

The girls at school would kill her if they ever found out that she had slept next to him…and that she had seen him without a shirt on. Her eyes moved down lower and lower his body and she immediately blushed as she pried her eyes away momentarily, cursing at herself under her breath. When did she become such a pervert? Was it natural to take notice of these things now? She couldn't help, but feel like a dirty old man.

Pervert. She told herself bitterly. You're starting to think like Yoko. Get your mind out of the gutter!

She saw Kurama stir in his sleep and gradually open his eyes. He ran a hand through his red hair as he sat up and gave her a slightly confused smile. "Good morning. Is everything all right?" He saw her strained expression right off the bat and it unsettled him. "Kira?"

"I'm fine…" she replied quietly before returning the smile as she feebly tried to keep her cheeks from turning a brighter shade of red. What would he think if she told him that just a few moments ago she was checking him out? She hugged her knees and rocked back and forth. "How's your injury?" She inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"To be honest," Kurama said putting a hand on the blood dampened bandage carefully, "it still hurts a lot. It should only take a few weeks to heal though." He applied slight pressure to his ribs and winced when an instantaneous sharp pain followed. At least it wasn't too serious, but it hurt quite a bit.

"That's good." Kira bit her bottom lip. Now what?

Kurama was unconvinced that nothing was wrong. He didn't even have to ask if something was up, he could just tell by reading her sullen face even if she was smiling shyly at him. It wasn't like she was trying to hide it though, it almost as if she was daring him to ask, but he wouldn't. They had taken a big step in their relationship last night, to pry where his nose didn't belong now might set them back to square one especially if it was a moody subject that was bothering her.

"We should get going." He said climbing off his bed and getting to his feet. He grabbed a roll of medical tape off the bed that was next to Kira and walked over to his bedroom door, he rested his hand on the doorknob then looked over his shoulder at her. "Will you be alright by yourself for a few minutes?"

Kira nodded. "Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom to redo my bandages and apply antiseptic."

Kira stared at him for a moment before looking away. "O-okay…" she said shakily. She watched intently as he left the room and closed the door behind him. Kira then sat cross-legged on Kurama's bed with her arms folded across her chest. She vaguely began wondering how pissed off Genkai was going to be when they arrived later that morning…

The area around the bathroom sink was rather messy with an open bottle of antiseptic and numerous cotton swabs laying strewn about the counter top.

Kurama carefully wrapped the medical tape around his chest, being extremely cautious as to not cause himself unnecessary pain even though his wound was still stinging from the antiseptic he had applies. The old bandages, which now lay hidden at the bottom of a small wastebasket next to the sink, had been smeared with dried blood. Although the cut itself wasn't too deep, the impact of the blow had injured his ribs. Kurama couldn't fathom how Ranmyaku could've gotten so much stronger in such a short period of time. To cause such an injury with just a swing of his blade had indeed proved to Kurama that he had underestimated the demon.

When he finished putting the wrap on he put the antiseptic back into the medicine cabinet and wrapped the cotton swabs in some toilet paper before throwing them into the wastebasket. The last thing he wanted was for his mother or stepbrother to discover them, but who honestly went looking through wastebaskets in their free time anyway?

He flipped the light switch down as he left the bathroom. In the hallway he stifled a yawn, feeling the events of last night taking their toll on his energy.

He tried his best, as he made his way back to his bedroom, not to have the floorboards creak under his feet. Though as luck would have it whenever you try to deliberately be quiet and noiseless as a mouse, something always goes awry. The floorboard groaned loudly with each step he took. A vein in his forehead throbbed in irritation. It was like walking on glass and each piece of glass he was stepping on was exploding from under him. Perfect, just perfect. Even after all the centuries of thievery, he still was powerless against the one force and law that applied to every teenager: the more quiet you try to be, the more likely louder you will be especially when concerning activities that involve sneaking around. Not even he was immune to it.

"Shuichi?"

Kurama's ear perked up at the sound of his mother's voice coming from downstairs. He mentally cursed in his mind before quickly grabbing a white shirt from his stepbrother's clothes hamper that was in the hallway and putting it on hastily to hide his injury from her. He pulled down at the hem of the shirt furiously because it was a little too small on him. He then proceeded to stumble down the stairs while trying to adjust the shirt, which his elbow was now caught in the sleeve of.

His mother stuck her head out of the kitchen with an amused look as her son stepped off the bottom stair. "I thought I heard you walking about upstairs." Her voice was content and there was a twinkle in her dark eyes.

Kurama finally managed to get his arm through the sleeve. "How'd you know it was me?" He asked entering the kitchen, his forehead covered in beads of perspiration from wrestling the shirt on.

"Your stepbrother would never get up so early and your stepfather is out of town on a business trip, so who else could it have been?" Shiori answered, hiding her playful smile. "Did you sleep well?"

Kurama rubbed the back of his neck tensely. "Yes, I slept fine." He racked his brain to think of anything else to say. "Do you need help preparing breakfast?"

Shiori shook her head, "No, no. It's fine." She glanced at her son from the corners of her eyes. "Thank you for offering Shuichi. However," she tapped a finger against her chin, "I wonder if Kira would like to stay for breakfast."

Kurama froze, feeling slightly abashed my his mother's sudden proposal. He didn't know whether to be embarrassed or marvel at his mother's knack for knowing these sorts of things. He then leaned against a kitchen counter with his elbows resting on the counter top and grinned sheepishly.

"If it makes you feel any better, I haven't called Rika yet." Shiori told him as she began pouring the pancake mix on a sauce pan. "Although, that was my first instinct. Who could pass up on such juicy gossip?"

Kurama's face paled a little at the thought of his mother calling Rika. Knowing both adult women, he could easily imagine them cooing over how cute it was that he and Kira were now together. As much as he loved his mother he couldn't help, but cringe inwardly at how annoying that would be.

Shiori simply smiled at him. "Don't worry, it's alright. I'm just teasing. Rika will find out eventually, I suppose." She went back to making the pancakes, trying to resist the urge of being an overbearing mother and tell Kurama how happy she was that he finally had a girlfriend. It was so horribly tempting to just drop everything and give him a hug then run upstairs and give Kira an affectionate death grip hug as well. "I'll see you two later than, right?" Shiori had become so accustomed to her son leaving for long stretches of time that she hardly asked where he was gong anymore. As long as he checked in every few days, it was fine by her. She trusted her son.

"Yeah…" Kurama said as he turned on his heel to head back upstairs to get Kira. He had a feeling Genkai was going to be even angrier with him than Kira for taking so much time getting back. After all, they were supposed to go back last night, but the little encounter with Ranmyaku had prevented that from happening.

He opened the door to his room to find Kira still sitting quietly on his bed and, no surprise here, spacing out.

She blinked when she saw him and tilted her head to one side. "Are we going now?" She then lifted both of her eyebrows with immense interest when she eyed the shirt he was wearing. "Isn't that a little too small for you?"

Kurama went over to his dresser as he pulled the shirt off over his head and threw it playfully at her. "It's my stepbrother's."

Kira acted like she was repulsed as the said object landed on top of her head. "EW!" She grabbed it and flung it to the side, as if the mere fact that the shirt had touched her was an insult to her very person. "You need to be more careful with those kinds of things. They may have cooties or carry diseases currently unknown to mankind. How would you feel if I contracted some weird ass disease?"

He laughed as he opened his dresser drawer and took out a white button up shirt. "I doubt that would happen." He put his arms through the sleeves then proceeded to button up the front of it. Kurama mentally noted that Kira sounded much cheerier now, as if in that short amount of time being by herself had allowed her to mull over whatever was bothering her in her head.

Kira stood up and waited patiently by his bedroom door with spare medical tape in hand as he finished getting dressed. "Grams is going to be thrilled to see us."

"Thrilled?" Kurama said in a perplexed voice as he draped his arm over her shoulder. "I was thinking that she'd feel more along the lines of rage and fury."

"No, no. You see, she'll be so deliriously happy that we're back that she'll try to murder us." Kira explained to him with a wide grin.

"That's not much better..."

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I was listening to 'Miss Murder' by AFI when I finished this (the funny thing is, I don't really like that band). Surprising how some songs for certain chapters can get you in the mood to write again, no?

Dc-chan: Crap. Crap. Crap. I just bombed my Algebra 2 pop quiz. Crap. TTOTT Life SUCKS right now…

MCT: Are you being 'emo' now?

Dc-chan: oo; Yes, I think I am…DAMMIT! I DUN WANNA BE EMO! –starts rolling around on the floor like an idiot- GETITOFFME! GETITOFFME!

But….at least I updated, right?

NEXT CHAPTER: Ignorance is Bliss (Haha. I accidentally said that would be the title of this chapter, but I messed up. My mistake, that's the NEXT chapter, but I fixed it!)

ROCK ON AND LOVE AND PEACE.

Dc-chan

P.S. A HUGE thank you to all the people who listened to me ranting about my writer's block on AIM or Myspace. Without your support and encouragement I don't think this chapter would be up for another few months. :D THANKS!

Now…REVIEW!-or something…

Kthxbye P: