By the time Kurama arrived back at Yusuke's he had avoided two small disasters.
That doesn't include the one that was waiting for him.
One.
After leaving Tohru, Kurama had quickly ducked into a restroom and scrubbed furiously at his skin. The scent of the nectar was making his sight swim. He had just removed the last bit and was closing his eyes, his shoulders slumped in relief when the door to the restroom opened.
"Minamino?" a surprised voice said.
Kurama looked up and his two new ears perked in surprise.
It was the classmate who had accompanied him there.
He took one look at Kurama and the ears on his head, the tail at his back, and his jaw dropped.
For a moment, Kurama was at a loss of words.
He had no idea what to say.
Was there anything he could say?
Then, at the last moment, when it looked like the classmate was about to bolt or panic, yell or the like, Kurama smiled.
It was an open, friendly smile, his slyest one. "What do you think?" Kurama said.
"About what?" the classmate said, eyes clouding in confusion.
Kurama smiled wide. It was the perfect explanation. "About my new costume." he said.
Two.
It was surprisingly hard to convince his classmate. It was even more hard to avoid the hand that kept reaching for his ears, but in the end, he had done it.
Unfortunately, there was more in store.
He had just left the hospital. His mind was on one hand releaved, on one hand anxious-Yusuke hadn't contacted him about whether he had found Hiei and it was getting late. Night was coming and the wind, already chill was getting cold.
Kurama was sprinting between the buildings-having wiped off his disguise, and being walked in on, he thought it best to avoid any more humans. That's when his cell rang.
He thought it was Yusuke, but he was wrong.
"Shuiichi?" his mother said.
Kurama stumbled.
"Ka-san?" he replied.
In the end, he promised he would stop by that night. The excuse he had used-that Yusuke was sick and his mother wasn't around to watch him, had worked, but he sensed something talking to his mother then that he had never sensed before.
She sounded reserved, as though she didn't quite believe everything Kurama said...
That had never happened before.
"Ka-san?" Kurama had said before he hung up.
"Yes, Shuiichi?"
"I...I..." Kurama began and for the second time in a day, he couldn't think of what to say. He wasn't even sure what he meant to say, it only seemed important that he say it.
His mother laughed softly on the other end of the line and it seemed that whatever was on her mind vanished. "I'll see you tonight, Shuiichi." she said in her warm voice.
Then, Kurama arrived at Yusuke's.
Don't they say that good things come in threes?
Perhaps it's the same for bad things.Yusuke was waiting for Kurama when he arrived.
"Yusuke?" Kurama said, looking at the Spirit Detective as he stood, tense and frowning near the doorway.
"Hiei's here, Kurama." Yusuke said. There it was again-a new note in his voice that the detective hadn't used with him before-that distant sound of suspicion.
"Hiei?" Kurama said and something in his chest tightened. Something was wrong. Kurama hadn't sensed Hiei. He reached out now and realized it was there, but so soft, so very soft, delicate and fragile.
Kurama started forward, brushing past a surprised Yusuke who suddenly put an arm out, effectively blocking Kurama.
"We need to talk." Yusuke said, but after a moment, Yusuke sighed. "Fine. After you see him. But, we need to talk, Kurama." Yusuke said.
"Very well." Kurama said and turned away from the detective. The day before the sight of Kurama as he was now with blooms of fox ears and tails, Yusuke had been laughing, now the sight of Kurama seemed only to anger the detective and Kurama, knowing he had done no wrong, couldn't help but feel suddenly guilty.
...to be continued...