Good Times

By:  Cece Williams

((Disclaimer:  don't own, can't sue… ha ha ha.))

Yusuke:  Wow!  Cece's back to normal!

Cece:  Yes, I am, Yusuke, and possibly better than ever!

Kurama:  Cece… maybe you should start typing.

Cece:  Okay!  Should warn ya, though, that this story might have spoilers from the Karasu/Kurama fight.

Yusuke:  And that it'll be a little more comical… in a way.

Kurama:  R &R at the end.

(Cece sings "Good Times")

Kurama:  (sweatdrops) Before she eats another three pounds of chocolate!

Andrea flinched to the sudden touch of Kurama's arms around her, feeling the tears fall slowly from her eyes.  "I know I'm just worrying about everything, but I do have a reason to worry, don't I?"

"Of course, but you shouldn't, though.  I'll be fine."

Even though the words reached her ears, Andrea's eyes never left the wall she was facing.  "I know you'll be all right, but how long is this charade going to last?"

"Fifteen minutes," Kurama answered her.  "If I can't beat him within that time limit…" He stopped; he didn't want to worry Andrea more than she was.  "Never mind; fifteen minutes should be more than enough time for me to defeat him."

"Fifteen minutes?" Andrea echoed, not fully believing what he just said.  "I can't even get out of the shower in that time."  She started teasing, hoping to make the situation seem less severe than it was.

Kurama let out a small laugh, turning back to face her.  "Indeed."

This time, Andrea's blue eyes left the wall and looked at Kurama.  "How would you know… unless you timed it," she said, looking at him strangely.

"And how do you know I haven't?" he inquired back at her.

"Well…" she was stumped on that one.  She turned around again, laughing while her face almost turned red.  "I really don't know, do I?"

"Guess not," Kurama answered with a small smile.

Smiling as well, Andrea put one hand on her face.  "Sometimes, I worry about you," she said to him.

"Oh?"  Kurama leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed against his chest.  "Why is that, might I ask?"

She bit her lip, which was a bad habit for her.  "Well, to be blunt, you're fighting a guy who looks like he should model for girl magazines," she answered, smiling a little.  Silently in her head, she was hoping Kurama would laugh to that.

Hearing the comment made Kurama bow his head and chuckle to himself.

"I mean, doesn't he look kind of…" To finish her statement, she raised her hand and shook it, not letting her middle finger move.

Kurama now had trouble keeping the chuckles in; he had to bite down on his thumb to keep from exploding out.

Laughing herself, she finished her statement.  "Don't tell me you haven't thought of Karasu like that, Kurama," she said, shuddering.

Kurama stopped laughing long enough to answer her.  "Of course I have, Andrea; I noticed it right off.  But just hearing it said aloud, I don't know…" He looked away, resuming the chuckling.

"I must be on one of my sugar rushes again," she answered him, holding a hand over her mouth to keep from almost laughing like Kurama.  "But at least it's better than worrying, right?"

Once again, Kurama turned back to face her.  "Most definitely better," he answered her.

"Although I might have a good reason to…"

"You might have one, yes, but let's not dwell on unhappy subjects like that, all right?"

"Okay, now tell me the truth," she said, looking into Kurama's emerald green eyes.  "You didn't take any kind of watch and time how long I was in the shower, did you?"

Kurama turned and walked casually away, whistling innocently the whole time.

"You did…" She looked at Kurama, her face turning red again as she smiled.  "If you live through this fight, I'm going to get you."

Kurama stopped halfway, lowered his head and smiled.  "You can sure go ahead and try, Andrea," he answered.

"Oh, I will, you better believe I will."

"The big money question, however, is will you actually succeed?"

That was a tough one for her to answer, so she sat back on the floor, holding her head in her hands.  "Uh, duh, Einstein, I won't; haven't from the get go, have I?"

Kurama turned back to smile at her again.  "Oh, I think you'll come up with something; it'll just take a little while."

"A long while, if you ask me," she answered, knowing that trying to get back at Kurama was really futile.  Changing the subject, she asked, "When's the last fight supposed to start, anyway?"

"Actually, if truth be told, I have no idea," he answered her.  "Hmm, perhaps we should go find out from someone."

"You're I n the Tournament, and you don't know?" Andrea shook her head, standing to her feet again.  "And I thought Kuwabara was crazy."

"Yes, well, if I hadn't been so distracted, then perhaps I would know the things I should."

"Want me to go with you?"

Kurama started walking, only to stop in the middle of the hallway and lowered his head.  "I would like that."

"All righty," she answered, closing her door and, making sure she had the key with her, walked to catch up to Kurama.  "Hey, Kurama, wait up."

Kurama stopped to wait for her.

She caught up with him.  "Okay, unless you want cobwebs in your hair, let's go."

"Just waiting for you," Kurama answered, continuing with her down the hall.

"Oh, I'm slow… okay…" She started teasing at Kurama.

"Just a little," he teased quietly back at her.

"Okay," she answered, letting him slide… just this once.  He's so going to get it later, she thought to herself.

Kurama only smiled to himself as they walked down the dark corridor.

Andrea brushed a hand through her long reddish-brown hair and winced.  "Ow."

Kurama stopped walking suddenly and looked at her.  "What's wrong?" he asked her in a concerned yet soft voice.

"Stupid tangles," she answered, looking at the few strands that had been pulled out.  "That last fight messed up my hair."

"Oh, is that all?" Kurama teased at her, chuckling.

"Yeah, I bet you get tons of tangles in your hair, Kurama," she teased him right back.

Meanwhile, Yusuke walked down the hallway, looking at Kurama and Andrea, who looked like they were in an argument.  "Man, you fight like a married couple," he said.

Andrea looked at Kurama, turning her head away.  She didn't really want to admit it, but she was definitely having these strange feelings for Kurama.  Why she hadn't told him yet, not even she had a good reason.  "We're not fighting, Yusuke; we're just discussing."

"Yes, arguing would sound a lot more unpleasant," Kurama added in a cool, neutral tone.

"Okay, but you two sure do discuss like one," Yusuke said over his shoulder as he walked by them.

Raising an eyebrow, she turned back to Kurama.  "What was that about?"

Kurama shrugged in response.  "I haven't the slightest clue."

"Like I was telling you before Yusuke interrupted, I bet you get a lot of tangles in your hair."

"Yes, but only just after rolling out of the bed."

While Andrea tried to stop herself from laughing, Kurama smiled and chuckled right along with her, smiling.

"I can't get that image out of my head," she said, trying to imagine Kurama's long red hair full of tangles.

"Yes, well, if you think that's funny, you should try to imagine Hiei's hair when he first wakes up in the morning," Kurama answered her.

At this point, Andrea's attempts of trying to stop laughing were non-existent.  Kurama had a slight hand on her shoulder, chuckling to himself the whole time Andrea's head landed on his shoulder.

As soon as his hand landed on her shoulder, Hiei stopped in front of them.  "Having a moment at my expense, are you?"

Andrea straightened to her full height and cleared her throat.  "Um, hi, Hiei," she answered him as a sweatdrop rolled down the back of her head.  "Um, nice day for a fight, huh?"

Hiei folded his arms tightly across his chest and frowned at them.  "Indeed, and the next one for us is in two hours."

"That was exactly why we were out here, right, Kurama?"

"Right," Kurama answered, nodding his head.

Andrea leaned her head near Kurama.  "He knows we're lying, right?"

Kurama nodded.  "I'm afraid so."

Andrea looked at him.  "We're dead."  Inwardly, she was shaking.  If it was one person on the Urameshi Team that scared her, it was Hiei without a doubt.  "We are so dead."

Kurama shook his head and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, patting it lightly.  "It's all right; he won't do anything."

((What does Kurama mean?  Does Hiei have to tell them something?  Will a certain secret be revealed, and if so, how will it affect the fight?  All that when "Anything, Anytime, Anywhere" returns with chapter 7!))

Cece:  Yay!  My first chapter in a while.  I might not be able to update like this; college, homework, and my daughterly duties take a lot outta me.

Yusuke:  So, be patient and review.

Kurama:  Thank you, Yusuke, for stealing my line.

Cece:  Oh, boy… anywho, R&R!