Saga 7: Demons, ghosts, & goddesses
Ch.20. Gratitude
disclaimer: I do not own any Yu-Yu Hakusho characters except Michiru, Freya, Mara, Lulu, Osho, Jugo, Lenos, Raruna, Shadow Dark, and her sister

The next morning, an enticing aroma filled the house, making all the guys arise from sleep and curiously follow the scent to the kitchen. (A/N: Surprisingly, Kurama was there first, instead of Yusuke and/or Kuwabara.) Kurama slid open the fusama and blinked in shock at the scene before him. The chabudai table was completely covered with food, leaving only enough room for the plates. He then proceeded towards the kitchen where he heard someone bustling about (A/N: Try and guess who it is). The redhead then looked in to see the woman from yesterday/last night chopping up a pickle and humming to herself. Surprisingly, even after all the cooking, the kitchen still seemed clean.

At that point, Kurama coughed, making the woman quickly turn around and smile sweetly when she saw who it was. "Ohayo gozaimasu!" (A/N: Good morning) Michiru greeted cheerfully. Kurama only was able to manage a nod, considering he was still shocked from the amount of food she had prepared. Finally, he managed to say "Did...you make all that?" At that point, he wanted to smack himself for such a rhetorical question. But, instead, the girl smiled again and nodded. "Yes. I thought you all might be hungry...but I don't know if you all eat breakfast or not..." her face then began to fall. Kurama acted quickly. "Oh, its not that! I just don't understand...why do this for us?"

Michiru looked at him shyly under a few strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail and replied, "Because...all of you have been so kind to me. You have protected me from the Black Nahga, healed my wounds, and gave me a place to stay. I should do something helpful to you in return. I mean, I know cooking isn't that much, but..." "Oh, no, no! I...I'm grateful...and shocked...that you did all of this for us. I mean, it's not like we did that much. It was mostly Genkai." Kurama replied and tried his best to smile. Michiru looked at him with soft eyes and answered, "You saved my life. That is important to me. And you're helping me by trying to keep me safe from harm." She then walked forward and gently lifted his face so he looked directly at her and smiled softly. "I thank you...and..." Michiru trailed off for a moment, then continued "thank you...for last night." At that point, both looked down and blushed deeply. However, she managed to look back at him first, her face's shade deepening. "I mean...I didn't mean to...come on so strong...but...well..." Kurama looked up at her again while she took a deep breath and smiled, before continuing. "I suppose...I...wanted to...experience...the...taste...of a kiss...before..."

However, before Michiru could finish, a "HOLY CRAP!" interrupted her, making them both turn to see Yusuke and Kuwabara standing in the doorway, completely wide-eyed. Kurama and Michiru quickly broke away, and stood side- by-side, faces crimson. Although, instead of the boys heading towards them, they quickly kneeled down at the chabudai table. "Wow! Lookit all this food!" Kuwabara said, and Yusuke nodded. Kurama and Michiru looked at the boys, then looked at each other wide-eyed as well, and realized their secret was safe. A sudden giggle escaped from Michiru's lips, followed by a chuckle from Kurama. Without warning, they both began bursting out laughing. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked up from their food idolizing and raised their eyebrows at the scene.

Once the two both stopped laughing, Yusuke took the point to ask, "What's so funny? Obviously we missed something..." Kurama and Michiru both looked at each other, and began laughing all over again. Yusuke rolled his eyes, whereas Kuwabara continued to remain stumped. Finally, they both finished, which Yusuke responded to also "If you two are done, for starters, who made this? You?" he turned his gaze to Michiru who blinked, then smiled and nodded. "I...I hope you like it. I made some miso soup with nameko, some grilled salted salmon with pickled benishoga, takuan, pickled kyuri, some karashi with natto and chopped scallions, umeboshi, simmered kabocha and sato-imo, goban of course, a slice of tamago-yaki, and last, but not least, nori! How does that sound?" (A/N: I will list the foods in order I typed them; miso soup with mushrooms, grilled salted salmon with pickled ginger, pickled cucumber, mustard with fermented soybeans and chopped scallions, dried plums, simmered squash and simmered taro, rice, a slice of egg- omelet, and lastly, seaweed. I did my homework on what the Japanese typically eat for breakfast, so walla.)

Once she finished her sentence, the others sat blinking in astonishment that she had cooked so much. Michiru had to hold in a giggle as she saw the two boys glue their eyes on the food. She took that as her cue. "Ummm...I made it for you guys, so eat all you want-" However, before she could finish, Yusuke and Kuwabara both 'woo-hooed', then began to shovel food into their mouths and/or bowels. Michiru blinked in slight confusion, while Kurama just sweat-dropped from the lack of manners the two were displaying. The brunette leaned in and said quietly, "Do...they always...eat this much?" Kurama sighed, and nodded. Although Yusuke and Kuwabara were both eating like they had been deprived of nourishment for the last few weeks, between mouthfuls they would say "Wow! This is GREAT!" and "Man, this is...like chef's cooking, or something!" Michiru smiled at their strange comments, and replied with a "Thank you. I'm glad you like it."

A moment later, Hiei came in and rolled his eyes at the scene. Michiru smiled in greeting while Kurama said, "Ah, you're up a little late Hiei." The koorime simply glared at the two, while the boys tried to convince him to sit down and eat with them. "Hey Hiei! C'mon eaf some foo!" "Yeah, ifs good!" They said both said through mouthfuls. Hiei simply wrinkled his forehead in disgust, and stayed planted to the floorboards. Michiru then took delicate steps towards him, her kimono swishing gracefully and quietly and spoke with a smile "Feel free to have some. I made it for all of you, so please, join in." Hiei looked at her like she had just asked him to kiss a dragon. Kurama, still sensing bad vibes from yesterday, pulled him away and whispered "Hiei. Please, try to be nice and eat the girl's cook-" "I have no desire to eat something made by a ningen wench!" he said acidly.

He then walked away, causing Michiru to call "Are you sure you don't want any?". There only came a simple "Hn." as a reply, then he vanished. Kurama noticed she looked a little sad and decided to try to cheer her up. "Don't mind him. He's usually like that." He said, and clapped a hand on her shoulder. She looked up with sad eyes and answered timidly "Well...I...I hope he's...not angry with me." The redhead smiled, trying to reassure her. But before he could continue on, Yusuke and Kuwabara added their own two cents after gulping their 6th helping. "Ah, don't mind shrimp. He always acts like that." Kuwabara grinned, while Yusuke nodded, then retorted, "It's not your fault he's such a hard-ass. He's just not a people person." Michiru realized they were trying to cheer her up and decided to comply. She smiled to her best ability and replied, "Well...I could see that he didn't seem very social." Kurama nodded. "Don't worry about it." Michiru looked up, then replied "ok."

Kuwabara grinned, and said, "Hey Ku-" but stopped when he saw Kurama shake his head. Yusuke got the message, and leaned over and whispered to Kuwabara "Hey, idiot! Don't call him by his youkai name! Use human!" Kuwabara blinked in confusion, then remembered that the girl was there. Yusuke and Kurama sweat-dropped, whereas Michiru simply had a puzzling look on her face about all the secrecy. 'Maybe I should look into it later...' she thought in the back of her mind. Finally, Kuwabara shot off the right name "Uh...hey...Shuiichi...you want some breakfast?" Kurama smiled in approval of the sentence, and then sighed when he saw the majority of the food had been scarfed down by the two teens. "Um...I hate to break it to you...but there's not much left..." he said, and sweat-dropped again, for the umpteenth time. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked down, and realized they had eaten more than they thought.

Michiru noticed too, and giggled a little. The boys scratched their heads in embarrassment, then made a move to get up, but Michiru stopped them, and replied, "Well, if you boys would like some more, I made a second batch just in case, so I'll go grab it." But, before she made it to the kitchen, Kurama stopped her and said with a smile, "I'll get it. Don't worry about it. In fact, Yusuke and Kuwabara will help too, right?" he said, and gave them a look that basically translated 'I-need-to-talk-to-you-both-in- private'. Surprisingly, the boys got the hint and headed towards the kitchen with the kitsune, while Michiru began to carefully stack a few dishes, then decided she would come back later and clean. Getting up from off the pillow, she quietly opened and closed the fusama door that led outside.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the boys stood talking. "Yusuke. Kuwabara. We should be careful about what we say around her, and please remember don't use my demon name." The two looked at each other for a minute, then looked back at the fox, who looked extremely serious. Kuwabara was the first to speak "Uh...why don't you want her knowing your name? I mean, itz not like she's a demon or anything..." "Yeah, Kurama what's up?" Instead of answering, Kurama opened a nearby window, while the other two crowded behind him and gasped at what they saw.

The girl had about a dozen or so birds flying around her and chirping while she laughed, and spun around, arms outstretched, staring at the clear, blue sky overhead. (A/N: Remember, the only one who saw her with the birds was Hiei.) Yusuke and Kuwabara stared at each other in confusion, then back at the girl again, who had a few birds on her shoulders and was presently watering the plants outside with a watering can that had seemed to appear out of nowhere. Kurama then took to quietly shutting the window and turned back to the other two team members who looked very shocked. He then said quietly "The girl. She's obviously not entirely human." Yusuke and Kuwabara both hollered "WHAT?!" but quickly shut their mouths when they remembered that shouts could be heard through the thin doors. Yusuke then spoke in a quieter voice "Well...Kuwabara and I both knew she had Spirit Energy...but not human?! Are you sure?" Kurama nodded, his green eyes deep in thought. "Yusuke. You saw yourself her throat was slashed. A normal human could not survive something like that, believe me, I'd know." He then turned to Kuwabara and continued. "Kuwabara. You stated earlier while she was asleep that you had seen she was frightened more by the youkai than the knife, correct?" Kuwabara nodded, his face dumbfounded. Kurama then crossed his arms, and closed his eyes, still contemplating. "True, it would seem normal that a person would be more concerned that their captor was a demon, however...I don't think the Black Nahga are the only ones she's dealt with before. I don't think she was so much afraid that it was demon, but the fact she didn't know he was one. Do you understand what I am saying?" Yusuke was silent for a moment, then replied "Yeah. In a weird way, it makes sense."

They both then looked at Kuwabara who still had a stumped look. Both Kurama and Yusuke sighed, while Kazuma retorted "What?! Look, just because I don't get what Kurama is sayin' doesn't mean I can't help." At that point, they had reached the dining room and sat back down. Kurama intertwined his fingers and bent his wrists so his hands were at mouth's level and was silent. Then, a question popped up in Yusuke's mind, and before he knew it, he voiced it outloud. "So, why is Hiei so pissed at her anyway? Is it because of the photo thing yesterday?" Kurama chuckled, then replied "No, that's not it. It's something else. I think one of the reasons is because she won't tell us who she is." Yusuke rolled his eyes and banged his fist on the table. "Oh goddamnit! That girl still hasn't told any of us at least her NAME?! Gimme a break!!" Kurama attempted to quiet Yusuke down, then continued on. "Yusuke, its not just that. I think another reason may be because..." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- Well, thatz it for Ch.20! Woot! This took forever and a day for me to write! I dunno if anyone's noticed except me, but I feel like my writing is beginning to get a little cheap...maybe its just me. HOWEVER! holds up finger to emphasize point I did some research on a tour guide book on Japan that my aunt gave me (thanks Aunt Layne!) and I read quite a few pages on what the Japanese eat, especially for breakfast. Jeez! No wonder we Americans are so fat! All these people eat are rice, veggies, and meats. Oh, and occasional fruit. But, man! If you think about it, they are really skinny (but healthy), compared to us. Oi. Just thinking about it kinda makes me wanna go on a diet (hey, I said 'kinda' didn't I?!). Oh well. Hope you all enjoyed the chappy, even tho it was kinda boring. Don't worry! It will get exciting next chapter!