"Hydra."

Hydra crossed his arms as he sat on top of my suitcase.

"Hydra."

With a withering scowl, he turned his head away from me.

He would choose now to throw a temper tantrum. I glanced at my watch. "Kurama's going to be here in five minutes."

"I don't care. Be late."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, ignoring his little rebellion to finish the last sentence off in my notebook. What more was there to say?

I stared down at the monster in front of me, not daring to roam back over the words I had written to exercise them from my mind. I'd done this before, back at Genkai's but it had been short, for Kurama's benefit. I didn't want his nosey little eyes, tracking my pen too closely. Moreover, ever since we got back, I've had this strange feeling, a twist of anxiety. Something was going to happen. I'm not sure what, but something was going to happen. I wasn't completely sure I was ready for it.

"Princess," Banriyu slipped his head through the door, literally, "Kurama's just arrived. Should I let him in?"

I manage to finish off, with: "Since the story's over, I don't see a point in writing any more pages."

"Yeah," I say, ripping the pages from the notebook and folding them together. "Let him in."

I take the paper and toss it in the waste basket beside my bed, flipping the notebook closed—wait. I flipped through the notebook again until I fell on some forgotten pages, pages I'd written so long ago it felt like years. It began:

"Kurama or Shuichi, whatever the hell your name is:

I will exorcise you from my spirit, if it is the last thing I do. I promise you that…."

I fell back onto my pillow with a laugh, "Urgh, I can't believe me, sometimes."

A gentle knock on my door, brought me back to reality, "Come in!"

Kurama graciously enters, wearing a flattering long tan coat. "Good morning. I trust you slept well?"

"I did indeed," I tell him with a smirk, "You?"

"Very, well thank you." He replied with a smile, "Although my mother attempted to keep me up all night, packing."

I grinned, leaning forward. "Did she? Why?"

Kurama lulled his head to the side with a trickster smile, "She was determined I pack my best clothes. She even had my father purchase some very expensive cologne for me." His eyes flashed bright at that, "I think she was under the impression that…"

I pause. "…that?"

"You and I were vacationing together."

I shrug, "Yeah, so we are."

He paused, his lips wiggling with a smirk. "No. They believed that we would be alone on this vacation."

I shrug again. So?

He closed his eyes, "That we would be sharing sleeping quarters."

I wait, sipped my water bottle.

Kurama's eyes flew open, an eyebrow raised at my density, "That we would share the same bed…as lovers do."

I spat my water out and fell back with a laugh. "Oh, god, that is hilarious! Your poor mother. I hope you set her straight."

Kurama rubbed his knuckles beneath his chin, "Actually, she was disappointed when I revealed the truth."

I gasped for air, "Wow, your mom is incredible. Honestly, Kurama. Whose mom is awesome enough to actively try to get their son laid? Hmph? Name one."

Kurama's eyes crinkled when he chuckled, a deep and rich laugh. I think it had something to do with the 'laid' remark.

"Do you still have the cologne?"

He gestured toward the window, "In the car."

I throw my pillow at him, "Why didn't you put it on? It could have made me dizzy with lust…as cologne normally does."

He laughed again, "Yes, as it so often does."

I clap my hands together, "I would've been all over you. I would have tried to get me some of that."

Kurama shook his head at me, "Now, you're just being cruel."

"Honestly though," I say, as I struggle to the end of the bed. "One drop of cologne on your beautiful skin? It would have been murder she wrote. I would have thrown myself at you."

He added in, "A lost opportunity, I'm sure."

"Yes," I say with a sigh, "Oh, well. You win some, you lose some. Anyway, you all set?"

"I am," He reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a notebook. "I have an itinerary for us."

"Itinerary?" Kurama was the king of dorky preparedness.

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Well, yes. When you phoned me at midnight, asking: 'What the hell are we supposed to do in Tokyo, anyway'," I laughed as he quoted me verbatim, "I decided to take it upon myself to make a list of some tourist attractions as well as cozy spots, I'm sure your friend, Katie, will enjoy."

I grin, before I discard the notebook and leap to the edge of my bed to give him a squeeze, "See this is why, I love you, Kurama. I was just going to play it by ear."

"I figured as much." He sighed, as I loosened my hold. "And, what's this about you loving me?"

I snort, "Don't be cute, Kurama. You know what I mean."

"You forgot someone." Hydra petulantly cut in. "He comes and I'm barely alive."

I have to force myself not to roll my eyes. "Hydra, I already told you. You are on probation. You have to stay in the crystal."

He clambered off the suitcase, throwing his little arms around my waist. "But I miss, Katie."

"Yeah, me too." I say, combing my fingers through his hair, "But she's here to see me…and Kurama. I'll let you out to eat and rest, besides, you know you hate Kurama."

He grinned at that, "How could I forget?"

Kurama gave him a pleasant expression, "How are you, Hydra?"

"Terrible, now that you're here, Fox."

I disentangled myself, "Oh, stop your flirting and come here. We have to leave in…" I looked at Kurama.

"Ten minutes." He supplied with a smile.

"Ten minutes," I repeated, rubbing the crystal at the base of my neck. "Come on."

Banriyu floated into the room, "Princess, your phone is ringing. I believe it's your cousin, Kyoko."

I threw my hands up, "What does she want? She better not be asking me for money."

Kurama chuckled, "I'll take your suitcase to the car."

I smiled in thanks, unsurprised when Hydra took it upon himself to follow me out of the room.

()()()

Aurora's room was very organized, which was very surprising…all things considered. Unlike Hiei, Kurama didn't get to spend an ample amount of time in her bedroom. Kurama just didn't think it proper, given their…well, he just thought it was a bad idea. But, Hiei, had no such qualms.

Kurama wandered over to her desk, his eyes landing on a photo of her and her family in a gold frame. It was much larger than the others. Two young boys stood at the center, the one on the left had dark violet hair and deep brown skin, his eyes ochre—obviously demon. To the right, almost seemingly identical in age, with black brown, chin length curly hair and a generous spattering of freckles on his honey colored skin, was the other boy. Kurama would judge them to be fifteen at the oldest. He had dark, almost black eyes. Next to him, stood MJ, a look of balanced awareness in her gaze, the same gaze he saw reflected in whom Kurama knew to be their mother who had the same honey coloring. Their father, was much darker in hue, with large intelligent eyes and gentle, handsome smile. His teeth white as snow. He and Aurora wore the largest smiles, but Hydra wore a smirk himself. And Medusa—a demon that Kurama had not seen in many years—looked nothing like herself. Her hair was longer, her eyes were alert, but softened and warm.

In truth, in the past, Kurama spared no great attention to her. He only thought of her as one of Eris' underlings. Yes, Medusa equaled him in strength, but his status far outstripped her own. He paid her no mind. But, he recalled one thing about her. He recalled, the almost cruel way her eyes saw through others before she killed them. It was savage and dismissive. He did not see that look here. It made him happy to see it. People could change, he knew this himself. They could change a great deal if given the right motivation.

Kurama's thumb brushed lightly over Aurora's face, as if to move back that wild hair that had fallen into her eyes, forever captured here.

He moved away from her desk, to the bedside table. There she found a picture of himself and her, stolen as they stood beneath an umbrella in the pouring rain. He was laughing here, but she grinned sneakily at the camera at catching him unawares. He would like to have a copy of that picture.

His eyes then moved on to her bed. He was finding everything in her room endlessly fascinating, including the rather large pink unicorn with the golden horn sitting upright on her bed. Kurama moved to pick it up, but his eyes were distracted by a notebook lying open. Homework? Did she forget to finish it and tried to complete it before I came?

That didn't sound like her. Aurora could be whimsical, but she took her schooling seriously, often completing assignments in advance, much like himself.

He peered closer, finding the words were actually written out in English.

It read:

"What is up, Journal? What's hanging?"

Kurama chuckled before he continued.

"Well, I'll tell you what's happening to me. I just met this guy today—" Kurama paused in his reading, deciding to pick the notebook up. "And he is—quite possibly, but don't hold me to it—the most beautiful man, I have ever seen. Gorgeous. Call home and complain, throw him down a well, gorgeous. Yes. That gorgeous…"

Sitting down on the edge of her bed, he continued with a smile: "You know I said we won't be dating for a while—and we won't—I just thought I'd tell you about it, you know, just in case you decide to change your mind. Because, honestly, a burning building in the middle of the desert in the middle of a heatwave in the middle of summer cannot come close to the hotness that gushed from this individual. Like take the heat from the sun and multiply it by a billion other suns and you might get halfway there. I literally, could not control myself. I tried. Couldn't do it. Like, we already know, I have no restraint, but I literally looked my restraint in the eye and slapped it in the face. It was wild."

Kurama closed his eyes for a moment as he laughed, resting his chin against his knuckles.

"But…there's also something strange about him. He feels like Hydra, but not quite like Hydra. He feels like if Hydra and I pulled a Digimon and decided to fuse together. Something like that, but also powerful too but also…lonely. I don't know. Anyway, I'm writing this down to get Aunt Medusa off my back. See Aunt Medusa, I'm writing out my feelings, so I don't explode. SEE?

Anyway, I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Love you like a love song, baby,

Princess Aurora"

Kurama turned the page, eager for another entry, but paused, his fingers hesitating.

This is a gross intrusion of her privacy. He thought. I shouldn't be reading any of this.

Still, it wasn't as if he'd use it against her at all, if anything it would provide him better insight into her mind. It would help him, help her. If he knew more, he would be able to provide her the support she prefers. It would enable him to avoid any pitfalls or issues, going forward. It would make transitioning into a relationship easier, not that he assumed, she'd be interested in him in that way. He just had a feeling, she wouldn't be opposed to it. They would do well together. Already, they proved to be more in sync than they first realized.

After meeting her, Kurama thought that he had, in fact, met the most beautiful woman to ever walk the earth. He smiled at that, his fingers turning the page. Besides, it was an urge—a habit really—one he couldn't put away, even in this life. He liked to be prepared for all things. This was no exception. Had he known about her feelings sooner, they could have avoided all of this trouble. He would have been prepared.

No. Kurama decided to close the book. I should put this down.

"Hey," Aurora's voice startled him but he quickly hid it by smiling. She leaned forward guiltily, "Sorry about that. Did I make us late?"

"Not at all." He said, standing to his feet, hiding away the notebook in his pocket. He couldn't make himself part with it, even when his senses screamed at him to toss it aside. She would only see him discard it, and grow angry. They would fight and they would be late, or worse yet, she would decide to go to the airport alone. No. He'd just bring it back as soon as he could. That would be best. He grabbed up her suitcase, falling into step beside her as she closed the door behind them. "We should make it there with time to spare."

"Good." She said, "Then I can get some reading done."

"I was thinking the same thing."

Aurora grinned, her eyes sparkling in the way that made him want to pull her close. "Great minds?"

He leaned over and kissed her on the crown of her head, making her eyes large with surprise. "My thoughts exactly."

Author's Note:

Hello all! I need to finish this story before I move forward with the others, so I will be updating frequently. Thanks for the continued support.

Next Chapter: The Storm

That one will be a little longer.

Damaged Forest Spirit: Yeah, MJ knows her sister like she knows herself. She already knows what's up. Hopefully, they keep that inevitability in mind moving forward.