"Tim?" I cried. "Tim Gentry?" While I was being checked for injuries (Even though I told the bakas that I was perfectly fine) and Yusuke and Botan were giving their statements, I noticed that I recognized one of the uniformed cops. The officer in question turned around and smiled.

"Well, I'll be damned," he said, walking over to me. "Killer Kaira Urameshi- what the hell are you doing here?" I giggled.

"What am I doing every other time you see me?" I took a good look at him. "Well, take a look at you! Promoted and everything! Sergeant Tim Gentry!" I shook my head. "At least one of us did something with our life." Tim let out a chuckle.

"You've still got time, Kaira. Now how about lettin' me in on what happened." I shook my head.

"Some punk thought he could score some good grades by beatin' up a teacher," I said. "And if I hadn't happened along, he might have succeeded." My smile turned to worry. "Is Mr. Takanaka gonna be okay?" Tim put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Don't you worry, kid," he replied. "He's got a couple of busted ribs but he'll be back at school in no time."

"Good- I hate substitutes."

Moments later, Botan, Yusuke and I were walking home. Aunt Atsuko had been notified about our lateness and was rather pleased that I had stood up for a teacher. She had also said something about my goodness rubbing off on her son. Yusuke hadn't spoken to me since... not directly anyway- he didn't mumble a few choice words under his breath which I think were directed towards me. Baita, Japanese for bitch, was one of them. And he was walking faster than usual- not that I had any trouble keeping up with him, mind you. But then, I suddenly stopped. Botan, who had been rushing to catch up with Yusuke stopped as well and gave me a questioning look.

"What's wrong, Kaira?" she asked. I shook my head, then looked up at Yusuke, indicating that I wanted him to slow down before revealing why I had. Seconds later, as I had expected he would, Yusuke stopped, turned around and stared.

"What the hell are you two waiting for?" he yelled, walking back towards us. "Easter, Christmas or what?" I smiled as I brushed a strand of black hair off of my forehead.

"We're waiting," I said in a loud voice, "for whoever has been following us since we left the school. Now come out and make yourself known."

Now, my feelings told me when someone was watching me, but they never told me who. While I was expecting Hiei or the infamous Hitukeri Batosei, I received Kurama.

"Kurama?" I asked, rather dumbly. I really wasn't expecting him, that was so... but where the hell was this nervousness coming from? I had faced guys twice my size without breaking a sweat, but looking into the green eyes of Kurama... made my knees go weak. Then there was that smile and the way he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he looked at me.

"I am sorry, Kaira," he said softly as his hand went to his pocket. "I didn't mean to startle you, but I wanted to give you this." His hand came out of his pocket to reveal a small green box, which he handed to me. Puzzled, I opened the box and looked inside. My jaw dropped.

"Oh, Kurama," I whispered. Inside was the most beautiful necklace I had ever see. It was a dragon- a golden dragon with red rubies for eyes- on a golden chain. In one of it's claws was a small, and I mean small, silver cross. As I gave him an astonished look, Kurama cracked a smile and nodded at my right arm.

"I noticed your tattoo when you, when you, um..." I could see he thought my handling of Hiei was rather humorous as he stumbled through his sentence and tried to hold back a chuckle. "When you met Hiei," he finished, finally. "And I guessed you had a thing for dragons, but probably not a highly religious person... I just thought that might help with Batosei." I smiled as I took the necklace out of the box and put it around my neck.

"It's beautiful, Kurama," I said. "Thank you. By the way, how is that partner of yours?" That did it- Yusuke, Kurama and Botan burst out laughing. "I take it he's still angry?"

"He's not too found, Kaira," said Kurama. "Actually, he's plotting yours and Yusuke's destruction as we speak." I chuckled.

"Man, what a baby. What, can't he get over the fact that a girl got the best of him? Pathetic."

"You didn't exactly take it easy on him, Kay," Yusuke told me. I shot him a glare.

"Then he shouldn't have made his biggest mistake his first one," I replied. "I can handle being called just about anything- Baita, punk, hussy... but one to many people have called me worthless and I'm sick of hearing it." I looked over at Kurama. "Thank you again, Kurama, but I should be getting home- Aunt Atsuko will be worried." With that, I turned and walked away. Yusuke looked after me in awe- he'd never known that about me. God, could that be why? He shook his head.

"I think I need to have a talk with my cousin."

I went right to my room when I returned home, telling Aunt Atsuko that I wasn't feeling very well and would just go to sleep. I needed time to think. I sat on my bed and fiddled with the dragon necklace I'd just been given. It was beautiful, the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. But the outburst I'd made after receiving it was one I wished I hadn't made. A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Go away," I said, although I knew that wasn't going to happen. Yusuke pushed the door open and walked inside. "Will ever listen to me?" He shook his head as he sat down beside me.

"What's wrong, Kay?" he asked. "What happened to you that would make you say something like that?" I took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh- there was no keeping things from that cousin of mine.

"Dad and I weren't on the greatest of terms when he died, Yusuke," I replied. "In fact, during the six years between Mom's death and his own, we barely spoke to each other... unless he was yelling at me of course, saying that I was a pathetic excuse for a daughter, I was completely worthless and if he had the chance he'd trade me in for a pet monkey. I wish I could say that this all started after Mom died, but it had been going on for years- Mom's death just made everything- the insults, the beatings... everything got worse."

As I spoke, it took all the will power I had not to break down in tears. It took all Yusuke had not to take out his anger on a nearby wall. In my letters to him, I had told him things were perfectly fine and that Dad and I were getting alone great. When he held those letters, he felt a sorrow fill him but dismissed it. He know knew what had caused it.

"It wasn't Dad who allowed me to keep the tattoo on my arm, Yusuke," I continued. "He thought I'd had it removed after he lashed out at me about it one night... I merely used a shit-load of make-up to make it look like I had."

"But you cried when he passed away," said Yusuke. "You said so yourself." I nodded as I wiped away the tears before they could fall.

"I cried because I was alone... and most of those tears were ones of joy. He wouldn't be there to hurt me anymore. And when I tried to kill myself, the reason why I asked what my father would think was because I knew he would know he had won- I had killed myself to get away from him." That was it, I couldn't take it anymore. My emotions got the better of me as I broke down and started to cry. A few seconds later, I felt a pair of arms around me that held me close.

"It's all right, Kay-girl," said Yusuke. "You just go ahead and cry." And that's exactly what I did.

Meanwhile, outside my window there were three pairs of eyes looking in on the charade- two were looking for weaknesses while the other was there to find out why I had said what I did only minutes before. Hiei, Batosei and Kurama.

"That poor girl," Kurama said to himself. "She's been through so much..."

"Baka Baita," muttered Hiei. "If she's not careful, those emotions will be her downfall, I'm sure of it."

"So, I have to capture that one to get to her?" Batosei asked himself. "That shouldn't be to difficult..."

**Hey all, Yusuke here. So I've found out what's been buggin' that cousin of mine although I guess I rather I hadn't... anyway, with the weekend finally here Kay and I, along with Kuwabara, Hiei (this is gonna be fun...), Botan and Kurama, can finally get down to some serious demon hunting. But why does Kay's face turn so red whenever Kurama talks to her? She can't be fallin' for that old fox, can she? Well find out next time on Yu-Yu Hakusho!**