And I'll Be Your Crying Shoulder, I'll Be Love's Suicide

Later…

Kurama POV

She sits up, and I let my arm fall. "I'm thirsty," she says.

I move to get up, but she catches my arm. "I can get myself a drink, Kurama."

"But I want to get it for you," I object. "It's no problem."

"Obviously it is a problem," she says, standing and facing me. "Since we started dating, you've been doing everything for me."

She doesn't want me to do things for her? But I want to do little things for her like grabbing her a drink. I stand. "Why not? What's wrong with me helping you out?"

"Helping me?" she asks. "Helping me? I don't need help, Kurama. I can take care of myself."

I know she can take care of herself. She proven that many times. "I know. But just because you can doesn't mean you have to." Calm yourself, Kurama. "You don't need to be so completely independent anymore. I'll always be here."

She shakes her head and snaps at me, "That's different. You won't let me do anything for myself, Kurama." Oh no. Her volume is starting to creep upward. The last time she shouted at me like this was on the plane. "At first it was sweet, but pretty soon it just got to be annoying."

"So what am I supposed to do?" I ask loudly. Calm, Kurama. Anna is already shouting. I don't need to start shouting too. "I'm supposed to take care of you."

"Is that what this is about?" Is that what what's about? She got angry first. She goes on, "This is about your…your virility? You're the guy, so you need to take care of me or you aren't a real man? Like it's you fricking job to do that?"

What? No. That's not it. She turns to walk away. I grab her hand. "Anna, I—" I begin. But before I can finish, she has swung her other arm back and slapped me full across the face. I stumble backward, my face stinging. I'd forgotten how much force she can put behind those. She hasn't felt the need to slap me recently.

She looks at me a moment. Then she threatens, "Don't. Touch. Me. Kurama."

Then she turns and stalks out of the room towards the kitchen. Is she really that mad? Damn it, Kurama. "But why didn't she tell me it bothered her before she got angry?" I groan as I fall back onto the couch.

Yusuke looks at me and says, "She probably thinks she did. Keiko's gotten mad at me for things like that. I guess they try to tell us what they want without actually saying anything. I still haven't figured it out."

"Women are impossible," I mutter, pressing my hand to my face, which is tingling.

"Tell me about it."

But maybe Yusuke's right. Maybe she did give me hints. This morning…the face she made when I told her I'd get her breakfast. Is that what he's talking about? How her thank yous stopped being so frequent and started sounding less sincere? The hesitation before accepting things from me and the loss of expression during that hesitation?

How am I supposed to read that, much less come to the conclusion that it's because I'm irritating her with my helpfulness? "This is so screwed up," I mutter. "How is anyone supposed to understand signs as subtle as that?"

"I feel your pain, Kurama," Yusuke tells me, taking a drink.

"A woman would have noticed them," Keiko mutters. How much attention did we attract? Could everyone hear us? Probably. Great. Everyone knows we're fighting.

Fighting. Such a thing hadn't occurred to me. Perhaps it was stupid to expect no problems. It's just…our relationship is to weird to begin with. But now…depending on exactly how mad she is…what if our relationship no longer exists?

No. What can I do to fix this? I groan and place my face in my hands.

"Just wait till she cools off."

"What?" I ask.

"Wait till she cools off," Shizuru repeats. "Then try and talk things through. It's not up to you to fix it, Kurama. Anna will have to work with you."

Yes. She's right. Just let Anna calm down. But… "How'd you know what I was thinking?"

She gives me a look that says quite clearly she thinks I already know the answer. When I don't say anything, she grimaces. "Kurama," she begins, "You are unnaturally good at reading people, but it's a conscious process."

"So?" What's she getting at?

She sighs. "Women are more naturally inclined to such analysis, Kurama. Many of us don't really realize we're doing it. But you have to try to complete that process, although that's much more than many men can achieve."

"So why is Anna mad at me? Just because I can't instinctively read her body language?"

She stares at me a moment, thinking over her answer as she smokes a cigarette. Finally, "I'll be the first to admit that many of us take this…woman's intuition for granted. And we get mad at you guys because you don't have that, like it's something you can control."

"So she's mad at him for not being a girl?" Yusuke asks.

Shizuru pauses before saying, "At the most basic level, yes."

Okay. This has stopped making any kind of sense. I suppose that's to be expected. Anna is often anything but logical.

Of course, that probably means I'm even more illogical than she is, since I'm the one who fell in love with her.

Anna POV

Ugh. I grab a beer. Maybe I shouldn't have slapped him. That might have been taking it a little far. But it was the first thing I thought of. And in the last couple of days, I've started to feel suffocated.

It was really sweet at first. It was nice to feel so taken care of, something I haven't had for a long time. But then it just got annoying. He wouldn't let me get my own food. He insisted on opening doors for me. Maybe my reactions was a little out of proportion to the situation…

But it's like he's convinced I need to be taken care of. I don't. I want him to be there with me. Take care of me when I'm sick; I'll take care of him when he's sick. That kind of thing. But that doesn't mean he has to do every single little thing for me.

Unfortunately, I can feel my anger at him fading. I want to be mad at him. But I love him to much to hold onto that anger.

I sigh and take a drink. This whole relationship thing…it's far more complicated than I remember.


Urgh. 'Tis depressing. Anna, Anna, Anna. Whatever will I do with you?

Angel of Randomosity: Thank you! :) :) :)

Takara Rose Oizumi: Thanks so much! And...NEW REVIEWER! (I think...at least, I don't remember your name...I think I'll shut up now.)

Aya Ayame: Uhhh...gracias. si. no hablo francais. lo siento. merci, is it? aqui esta tu capitulo.

Sarcastic Nightmare: I love that line too! Yeah, her name's Mukuro. I don't care for that pairing either. I understand where the possibility comes from (he gave her her slave master in a regenerating plant so she could torture him...great birthday present, no?), but I don't care for it all the same. They hardly seem to tolerate each other...

wolvesrain17: I absolutely love the little conversation with Hiei. Makes me laugh every time I think about it.

animegrlsteph: Just wait. Shizuru gets even more ridiculous. (Mind you, she is finally fed up with their 'relationship issues.')