18

Siera awoke with a start, it was beginning to be a common occurrence now, she tried to recall of the events of the day before and a surge of regret took over her heart. I did that…I hurt those people…I'm a monster. She pulled her knees into her chest finding each breath harder than the last. I shouldn't be here; I don't deserve to be here I'm horrible!

She looked to the clock on the nightstand, it was only 3am; she remembered Kurama's words carefully: If you are having trouble falling asleep; or if you start feeling bad again but come talk to me, you always could. She put on her slippers and tiptoed to their room, it wasn't hard to pick the lock and slip inside, Hiei stood nearby watching her before simply walking back to his room without a word; she had to remember their senses were like and even better than hers.

She stood by Kurama's door for several minutes before summoning the courage to knock but before her knuckle hit the door he had opened it with a look of concern in his eyes.

"I…can't sleep, and I don't want to be alone." She looked down ashamed that she let herself look this weak so much in the past several days. He smiled and opened the door wider inviting her in and she meekly walked inside. So many things traveled in her mind as she sat on his bed; he had said that he loved her, what does that mean for them now? Will she be damned for the acts she committed? Will they all die in the end anyway?

"Do you want to talk about it?" He interrupted her thoughts and she looked at him deeply.

"Can…can I just cuddle with you, like when we were little? I know you have a big day tomorrow and I should let you sleep but-"

"Of course, if that is what you need, I am happy to give it to you." Her heart pounded in her chest as he got back into his bed and lay down. She lay on top of the blankets, too nervous to really be too close and laid her head on his chest. She was always affectionate with him from the time they were little, she was a touchy person but why this moment made her so nervous was alien to her. Maybe it was because she knew of his feelings, did he know of hers?

"K…"

:Yes?"

"About earlier…I…am I…"

"You are not evil; you made questionable and irrational decisions but that doesn't make you evil. Now please, for me, just let it go."

"Okay…and…I love you too. You said that you love me and I was surprised of course but I never said that…I love you too, I always had." She knew she was rambling and it made her heart race more. He put his arms around her and held her close she closed her eyes and took in the smell of him.

"I'm glad to hear that; to be perfectly honest I had suspected as much but I didn't want to ask."

"Oh…well what does that make us?" His heart quickened ever so slightly before going back to normal and that piqued her interest, was he unsure as well.

"Honestly…with the dangers ahead of us I cannot say; I cannot promise you a future that is so fragile in this moment. There is no telling if we shall be victorious again or if I will fall. I can only promise you this moment here after that is out of my control." She felt tears well in her eyes, this was why he wanted her to stay away, so that she wouldn't be concerned with the peril they were facing; but he couldn't expect her to leave him to suffer it alone, they had each other's backs since they were three, it wasn't going to end now.

"I will tell you what, let's go back to the way things were; if Toguro is beaten and you survive, if that is what we still want to do then we will talk about something more? If you were even considering it to begin with." Even in the pale light from the moon those green eyes dazzled her. He lifted a hand and ran his finger through her hair sending goose bumps down her body.

"It does sound like a good negotiation; however I don't think that now that my secret is out that I can place it back in. Could one repair a broken egg or a sheet of glass and not see the cracks?" The way he looked at her was surely different than before, of course it was always the same old K, but something intense was in that gaze and it made her want to kiss him just once to know what it was like.

"Then what should we do?" He caressed her face and pulled her in and she felt her breath and her heart stop. He gently kissed her forehead and nuzzled her hair. She lay her head back down on his chest shaking from nerves.

"As I said it is a good negotiation, I will behave if you will." She looked up at him with that familiar mischievous gleam in her eye.

"But I never behave." He chuckled at that and stroked her hair.

"Then you should try, now go to sleep we have a big day ahead of us." She lay her head back on his chest and found it easy to drift off to sleep.

She awoke several hours later in his bed alone a single rose in her hand and a note on the nightstand. You looked too peaceful to awaken; hope you can forgive me. She smiled to herself as she smelled the flower.

"Now that is how I like to see you."

"Zoie, I was just…"

"I meant with a smile on your face and your heart at peace, I know you much better than that. I came back to bring you to the new stadium, it seems someone wants you there to root for them." She blushed as she climbed out of bed and raced to her room.

"It's almost 10am, better than last time, what should I wear?" she muttered to herself.

"How about nothing; it's easy to do and gets right to the point."

"Zoie don't be vulgar!"

"And since when are you Miss Prude? You spout more innuendos than I ever have yet you wouldn't know the male anatomy if it were plastered onto your textbook." It was true, she loved using her ability to its best advantage which included beguiling males but the sad fact was she only knew what she pulled from their minds at the time. She may seem like a seductress to her enemies and even kids at school but she was a virgin.

"It seems like a good fit; of course I didn't think he would find any young girl he liked, he seemed too proper for the ones at school. To be honest I thought he would grow up to be gay."

"Do you want smacked?"

"You know I have to get my licks in where I can; it's hard to get you in a good mood. So… sneaking into his room in the middle of the night, a love note and a rose in the morning; is it safe to say you two are a thing now?"

"Well no, not really. We are waiting to see how things go, you know…"

"So you don't plan your wedding in three years just to find out he's dead before you even get to the stadium today." She glared at him and the joking was definitely over. She settled on a flowing top with shorts and leggings, cute but not suggestive. They raced toward the new arena just in time to see Hiei slash his way to another victory. She ran all the way to the front row sitting next to a random group of demons who didn't seem thrilled to have her there.

"Hey girl, you got some nerve coming over here!"

"Yeah we paid top dollar for these seats, either pay up or get lost!" She ignored them, her eyes on her best friend, or will it be boyfriend? The question pounded her head like a drum and her heart fluttered along.

"Gentlemen please, my mistress would simply like a good view, and she is of small size would it be that inconvenient for her to simply sit here? It would really do everyone a kindness to just let her be." a large green demon with a single horn stood his fists balled.

"Stupid uppity little bitch GET OUT OF OUR-" the demon started choking and coughing violently and yelling in pain, he began to spit up a large amount of blood and chunks of flesh as his comrades stood back in horror. Within minutes he was silent; he remained alive, but without the ability to utter a single noise as she shook with pain and fear.

"I'm trying to listen." She never took her eyes off of the ring as Kurama began his fight, the demon just whimpered as he sat back in his seat as Zoie whispered an I'm sorry, I tried to tell you to them.

"That guy he's fighting, something's fishy I don't like his thoughts…they seem…" She stood sharply as the opponent snared him with his fishing line and slammed him to the ground.
"HEY LISTEN TO ME; let him fight his own battle!" Zoie nipped at her leg to bring back her focus and she nodded. She focused her breathing and tried to listen to what was being said, what was going through their minds.

"He's going to turn him into a baby…" she squeezed and released the concrete barrier in front of her trying to calm herself as the ring filled with smoke. She was afraid for him, there was no doubt about it; but she also knew he was smart enough to think of a way out and so she waited and listened trying to sense his fading energy.

"H-he's gone…" Zoie's ears perked and Siera gasped as the explosion of spirit energy seemed to overflow out of the ring.

"I have never heard that voice...but something about it. 'Yoko has returned they cry.' Who is Yoko?" Zoie froze and Siera broke her gaze to look at him.

"I heard a story or two."

"Well…?"

"Shh; just watch the match."

"But I can't see anything!"

"Then listen, geez!" She turned back to the fight frustrated and listened to the conversation.

"That voice…that power…could that really be who K really is?"

"Well from what he told us Yoko's soul merged with Shuichi's creating the guy you know and love, so…as for whom he truly is, I really don't know."

"It seems complicated."

"You attract complicated." The smoke billowed away and Siera laid her eyes on this mysterious stranger; she could see from where she stood that he was much taller than she was, long silver hair golden eyes and ears she could tweak for ages!

"Silver hair, a dreamy tail; who is this love god?" The female announcer sighed over the microphone.

"Yes…who are you…" She found herself bounding over the barrier again to meet the team never taking her eyes off of him. She couldn't help but feel a strong attraction toward him, and she got it in her head to search his thoughts for answers. She couldn't read him either which both frustrated and intrigued her, then his eyes darted to her and they made eye contact like he knew what she had tried to do. She felt afraid and yet she also felt euphoric to be under the gaze of something so beautiful yet so dangerous.

Just like that, her silver haired wonder had transformed back into her best friend and a mix of emotions surged within her.

As Kurama leapt down from the ring she hugged him gently happy that he was safe and he put his arms around her as well.

"I just saw a side of you I had never seen before," He gasped as she whispered a playful tone in his ear. "and I want to get to know it." She backed away with a smile and turned making sure he saw her sashay.

"Did…she just grab your ass?!" Kuwabara laughed while Kurama stood stunned at her behavior, she was obviously trying to find the boundaries of their relationship but he wasn't clear on what they were himself. However if she was serious on wanting to know just who Yoko was…her being frisky with him was the least of his worries.