The Celestial Tiger's Notes: Once again, my sincerest thanks to all of you who are reading and reviewing! I know I'm not updating very often. Things are pretty busy but I'm trying to make time to write.

Oh, and here's a shameless personal plug. If you like my writing, I have a new story up in the Inuyasha category called "In Your Heart of Hearts." It's a series of character introspections. Basically each chapter is a one-shot in itself, to give me a break in between this massive story...yes, this will be expansive.


Chapter 5: Breaking The News

The sun rose bright and fair the next day. But even the warmth and cheer of a balmy day did little to raise the grim spirits of a certain group of people as they set out to tie up lose ends before their journey. For Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara, possibly the highest point of anxiety was finding some way to tell their families.

Kuwabara had actually decided to explain the situation to his sister since she already knew of the existence of such matters. Besides, he knew that nothing other than the truth would work with her anyway. She could read him like an open book. He approached her after her first cigarette of the morning. It was like coffee...she had to have one to become a functional person.

"Hey, I got something important I gotta do and I'm gonna be gone probably a long time," he blurted out all at once. Shizuru just stared at him, giving him that impartial look that was typical of her.

Realizing that she wasn't going to say anything yet, Kuwabara continued. "Yeah, so...there's something going wrong with history and we gotta go back in time to fix it. Sounds weird, I know. I gotta go today, though."

He paused again and looked at Shizuru. His sister merely blinked at him and took another drag on her cigarette. Kuwabara frowned. "Hey! Aren't you listening?"

Shizuru then blew out a spout of smoke and sighed. "Yeah...you have to go back in time. Not surprising considering all that Koenma's asked you to do so far for this job."

Kuwabara pursed his lips. "You make it sound like I'm going to the park. I might not even be able to come back."

Shizuru sighed again. "Well, it seems to me that you've already decided to go, Kazuma. And in that case, there's nothing I can do about any of it except hope you make it back alive." Just as Kuwabara was about to retort, she grabbed him in a headlock. "And you better come back, baby brother," she threatened.

"Okay, okay! Just let me go!" Kuwabara croaked. Shizuru seemed satisfied that he'd submitted to her and released her hold on him. Kuwabara rubbed his throat, giving her a dirty look for a moment but then he suddenly changed to an overly sweet expression. "There is one more thing," he chimed.

Shizuru grimaced. "Let me guess...take care of your hairball."

Kuwabara's expression darkened. "Hey, Eikichi's not a hairball! She's a sweet widdle kitty!" Upon hearing Kuwabara's kitty baby talk, Eikichi came out of hiding and leapt into his arms, purring affectionately. "There's my pwecious widdle baby!" he cooed, snuggling the cat.

Shizuru rolled her eyes. "Really, Kazuma...that's utterly pathetic."

Kuwabara cut his eyes at her and then returned his attention to the cat. "Don't you listen to her, sweetie." He suddenly got teary as he cuddled Eikichi. "Daddy's gone miss you! Oh, who will feed you...and pet you...and give you a warm place to sleep?" he lamented noisily.

Shizuru huffed loudly. "Alright, alright, I'll take care of her. Just please stop acting like a moron."

Kuwabara instantly grinned. "Gee, thanks! You're the best!"

Shizuru merely rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever...get your ass busy...Mr. Time Traveler." With the provision made for his cat, everything else was a snap and he was soon ready to go.

Yusuke had begun to wonder if his mother would even notice his absence in her constant drunken stupor. Then again, she'd been awfully sensitive about him being gone too long after his death experience. No, she would definitely notice and would probably slip into depression and then start thinking him dead again if he didn't return soon.

"Hey... Mom..." he said, trying to sound casual. His mother looked up at him with half glazed eyes.

"Whaddya want?" she slurred out, though she didn't seem hostile which was a good sign.

Yusuke shrugged casually. "I just wanted to let you know that I gotta go out of town for a while."

Atsuko slowly blinked a couple of times until understanding set in. "You're...going away?" she asked, her eyes trembling.

Yusuke put up his hands to belay her panic. "Yeah, for a while, but don't worry!"

Atsuko's expression returned to dazedness. "What about school?" she asked in an empty tone.

Yusuke was prepared for this one. Just before they went their separate ways last night, he and Kurama had worked out a good excuse to tell their mothers...more like Kurama had come up with it and he had decided to use it too, but who was keeping tabs?

"I'm going to be a transfer student for a while...in...America," Yusuke said with a tentative eye on his mother as he waited for her reaction to his story. Atsukostill didn't look like anything was registering with her on a deep level. She stared blankly at him for a moment but then suddenly leapt at him, crushing him into a bear hug.

"You can't go across the world and leave me here!" she cried mournfully. "Why do you need to go to America to go to school? How can you learn anything over there? You don't even speak English! Besides, you hate school! Why would going to a foreign school make a difference?" She pawed at him the whole time, her voice approaching hysteria. "You can't go, Yusuke! You can't leave me here alone!"

Yusuke pried her off and sighed in frustration. "It's...kinda my last chance," he lied. "See, if I do this...I stay out of trouble. If I don't...well...you know how much the education system hates me." Now he was making it up on his own, tailoring the story to his situation. He only hoped that his mother would buy it.

Atsuko calmed slightly and stared at him. "That's a pretty extreme way to try and straighten somebody out, don'tcha think?"

Yusuke shrugged. "Extreme or not, I pretty much don't have a choice."

Atsuko finally appeared to resign. "When do you have to go? How long will you be gone?"

Yusuke shifted uncomfortably. "I...uh...leave today...and I don't know how long I'll be gone."

Atsuko looked appalled. "TODAY? Whaddya mean you leave today? Just how long have you known about this without tellin' me?"

Yusuke sighed deeply. "I don't really have time to talk about it any more, Mom. I gotta get ready to go." With that, he fled before she could react.He ducked into his room and quickly packed a few things in his backpack, hearing the clinking of bottles in the background.

'Sure,' he thought bitterly. 'Drink yourself outta this just like you do with everything else.' But how could he really say anything? He was leaving...leaving her alone...alone to drink...alone to brood...completely alone.

A growl emanated through his clenched teeth as he practically punched the last of a few belongings into his bag. "Damn it all!" he gritted out. Puu sat on his bed and looked up at him, cooing consolingly at him. "Oh...screw it," Yusuke snapped. "She'll be fine. Koenma's got people watching after her. I got too much else to worry about anyway."

With that, he secured Puu to his backpack, flung it on his shoulders and then stormed out, calling out a brisk goodbye to his mother and shutting the door firmly behind him as he left.

Inside, Atsuko hugged her bottle as a few warm tears spilled down her cheeks. "Come back, Yusuke..." she murmured to herself before seeking comfort from the bottle in her hands.

Yusuke wasn't the only one having a rocky time. Kurama sat on his bed, feeling very wrong about leaving his human mother alone. Of course he'd gone off before but never for an overly extended period of time. She relied on him a great deal. How was he going to tell her that he was going away indefinitely?

He knew that Koenma would make sure that she was guarded but it wasn't enough for him. After such a rough relationship with her throughout his human childhood, he had finally grown close to her. He found now that he desired time with her. How ironic, since he was about to leave and he had no idea when he would see her next.

He knew that he couldn't stall any longer and he made his way to her, finding her watering their indoor plants. "Mother?" he asked softly.

Shiori turned to him, offering him the same warm smile that she had always held for him. "Yes, sweetheart?"

This only served to make him feel worse but he maintained an even expression and tone. "I have to tell you something," he said, looking grave enough to concern her.

"What's the matter, Shuuichi?" she asked, setting down the watering pitcher and giving him her complete attention. She wasn't accustomed to seeing him so forlorn. The only other time she'd ever seen him this despondent was when her health was failing. She waited patiently for him to speak.

Kurama drew in a deep but even breath. "I've been given the chance at a rare opportunity...to study abroad as part of an exchange program," he said calmly, though he loathed lying to her.

Shiori visibly relaxed. "Oh, that doesn't sound so bad. In fact, it's quite an honor to be given such an opportunity," she said with a smile but the serious look she received from her son caused her smile to falter.

Kurama frowned ever so slightly. "There is a problem. I was notified very late...yesterday in fact... and now if I am to go, I must leave today. I would have told you last night when I got back but I did not wish to wake you." It all sounded so ridiculous but what else was he to say? He'd given the matter as much thought as possible in such a short time and there really was no better story to tell her.

Shiori blinked as she tried to process everything. "Is...is this something you really want?" she asked softly.

Kurama blinked once slowly. "I cannot afford to refuse this trip," he said, choosing his words to satisfy the slight bitterness he harbored, though he tempered his tone carefully.

Shiori sighed, smiling sweetly at him. "Then don't refuse it."

Kurama could see so much emotion in her eyes. But she always put him first. She always had. He could only admire her all the more for her selflessness. "What about you?" he asked.

Shiori drew him into a hug. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine! Don't let me stand in the way, Shuuichi. Never think that you have to pass up on something for my sake. Life is out there waiting for you and you have the intelligence and the charisma to do anything you want. You can't keep letting concern for me hold you back, ok?"

Kurama sighed and returned her embrace. To him, she was the essence of what was good about humanity. When he pulled back, he nodded solemnly. "I will always worry about you, Mother...but I know that the best way to thank you for all that you've done is to be someone that you can be proud of."

Shiori beamed a special smile at him and caressed his hair. "And I'm more proud of you than you can ever know...now you had better get busy...you've got a lot to do if you're leaving for this trip today."

Kurama smiled and nodded, feeling more than a little relieved. After that, he finished preparing and then said his final goodbyes, hoping that she would be alright without him.


Additional notes: I know that this chapter was short and seemed a bit extraneous but seeing as how most of the character interaction will take place in the past after this, I wanted to explore the relationships in the present time a bit before proceeding. Besides, none of them knows if they'll be able to come back freely or not and it only makes sense to give some deference to the weight of that implication.