Letting Go
By Arra Jade
Chapter 2
Shiori hummed to herself as she finished preparing dinner. She loved cooking for a family again. It had been nice when it had been just her and Shuichi. But he needed a father and a family atmosphere that she knew she could not have provided for him on her own.
A sudden chill ran down her back and the eiry feeling of someone staring at her made her turn and look toward the kitchen door.
Shiori starred in shock at the woman outside the kitchen door. She wasn't that surprised by her arrival or the fact that the woman seemed familiar. What frightened her was that she could see the backyard garden through the woman's body. A ghost?! The ghost woman said something that Shiori couldn't quite hear and then put her hands against the window.
A malicious smirk crossed the spirit's face moments before the glass imploded toward Shiori. She screamed and covered her face from the glass as the force of the blast knocked her off her feet.
Kurama bolted down the stairs at the sound of his mother's scream. He assessed the situation in a split second: his mother was on the ground, wounded and a figure was approaching from the ruined back door. Without thinking he stepped between Shiori and her attacker. The apparition looked at him with a calculating gleam in its eyes.
"Do not interfere, this does not concern one of your kind." She said, her voice only slightly changed by lack of a physical body.
"Be gone evil spirit, you are not wanted nor are you welcome in this house." Kurama replied calmly. He heard his step- father and brother rush into the room. He heard Kazuya gasp but Shuichi's murmured voice was much more disconcerting.
"Kassan?" The ghost broke from her staring contest and gazed at the two newcomers. An almost fond expression touched her face,
"Shuichi…" she whispered, then her eyes rested on Kazuya. An inhuman snarl left her lips.
"Remember: unlike some, I keep my promises." She said, never taking her eyes from his, before disappearing. The threat gone, Kurama turned to his mother, kneeling before her.
"Daijobu kassan?" He asked, extending a hand to pull her to her feet.
"I…I think so," but her voice as well as her body was shaking. Kurama looked at his stepfather, he was pale and his eyes were locked on the spot the ghost had last been. He led his mother past him and had her sit down in the living room. He got the first aid kit from the bathroom and started cleaning the cuts on her arms. They weren't serious but he wanted to make sure none of them got infected. He turned to his step-dad,
"Who was that?" he asked. Kazuya stayed quiet for a moment before replying
"Hatanaka Midori… my dead wife."
The three humans had all gone to bed after that while Kurama had stayed up to clean the kitchen and think. He came to the conclusion that he would take a half-day off and go see what Koenma could tell him about the ghost who had attacked them.