UK: (looks all around for her reviewers, whom have all taken up pitchforks in search of her) Okay, I'm here.

Reviewers: (holding pitchforks and glaring)

UK: Um…I have a super-long chapter for you. It's good. Bri is…I'll let you read. Anywho, I kinda rewrote this about seven or eight times…

Reviewers: Aaaaand?

UK: I don't own YYH. (crying heard as lights go down and the chapter begins)

Chapter 22: To Live, Love, and Learn

…Kurama…

I sighed and collapsed beside her. She was okay. Bri was okay. Her breathing was even, deep, as though she were merely sleeping. I chuckled to myself. Only Bri would sleep after nearly losing her life. Or so I told myself. She looked so calm, so unlike the deer-in-the-headlamps that she'd been only a few moments before. A few hours? I don't know. Time had seemed to just stand still.

I'd panicked. I never panicked. Inari, this girl was playing with my mind without ever meaning to. Or rather, sometimes meaning to. Why had she kept away from me? Waited so long? Koenma had probably given her permission for birth long before, probably to be in the same age area as I was again.

So why did she wait?

…Flashback…

"Okay, fine," Bri sighed. I could tell she was still against telling me. Why was I pushing so hard for this information? She wasn't an enemy. Why was I being so nosy? " I…The love that we had seems…shallow now. It seems like we were caught in the moment, instead of fully in love. Like if we were separated for a while, we wouldn't feel the same when we came back together again."

I closed my eyes, sipping my hot chocolate. I cared too much for this girl. I need to let her go, help her find her boyfriend. I wondered if she still felt the same way about him, or if it was stronger. Maybe I had a chance—NO! That is not a path I should take. This man was probably around my age, she deserved him.

"Is this 'shallow love', as you call it, still the way that you feel, Bridget?" I knew she hated it when I used her full name. It made her think about what I'd said—and I needed her to think about herself, which was asking a lot of her, I knew. Bri sipped at her own hot chocolate, contemplating.

"I am more in love with him now than I was before," she admitted softly.

The pang in my chest almost overrode my desire to continue to help her. "Then why?"

"I don't know what he'll think. And if he rejects me, which is highly possible, I will not be able to take it."

Oh, Bri…I want you to be happy. Why don't you want the same?

"But what if he says yes?"

She smiled sadly. A tear slid down her cheek, and I knew that I would never be able to ask her to love me the same way. "I will wait for him to make that decision. Because if I do anything, everything will fall to pieces around me."

…End Flashback…

All that time, she was waiting for me to make the first move. And yet she knew that I wouldn't because she knew that I would be searching for her boyfriend to convince him to ask her. Why had she created such a paradox? We both had, I suppose. I am as much to blame as she is.

Thirty-one and sixteen…

Human world will reject us.

I know it.

My mother…

Her family may accept us. But where does that leave us?

Us?

I'd better slow down. Stop. Think. She may still not want to be together. It is wrong, after all. I'm her teacher. I'm older than her by fifteen years, a substantial amount of time in Human world. I've been her friend since she was only three years old, I'm more like her father or godfather than her boyfriend.

"So this is where the wench went."

I growled under my breath, purposefully pushing my body between Bri and him. Toki. He was still wearing nothing but the sash, his sword strapped to his lean, powerful back by a leather cord.

"What do you want?"

"My mate, fox. Is that a problem?"

"She does not want you."

"She's my mate. I don't care what she wants." His golden eyes narrowed. "Why are you protecting her? You have no claim."

"Bri has been reborn—there's no claim you have on her, either." I leapt to my feet, still weary from the task of pulling Bri from the racing stream.

Toki glared at me. His temper was quick to light—an obvious flaw.

"Who the hell do you think you are? She's mine!"

Both my ears were pressed back against my skull, all nine of my tails flicking. I rarely showed this much anger outwardly—a sign that I was either getting old or I was letting too much get to me.

"Bri is no one's property. If you want her, you'll have to go through me."

Toki glared, his golden eyes matching mine curve for curve. "So be it. To the death, fox."

Bri did say this one was an idiot… "Wise up and leave, before I kill you. Bri won't like your blood on my hands."

He roared and rushed at me with all the strength he had within him—his bane. I flicked my Rose Whip out from just beneath my neck and cut him down. Toki didn't even have time to see the reddish pulse of the thorns before they hit all of his major vital organs.

Dead before his nerve endings even had time to send the pain signals.

Bri stirred, coughing slightly. For a moment, she just stared at the ground. I moved to intercept her sight of Toki. She didn't need to see him, alive or dead. The moment she saw me, she panicked, throwing her arms up against the nearest tree.

"Oh, kami, I'm in hell, aren't I!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs. "Damn it, I had to do it, I just had to—"

I smiled and knelt beside her, and pressed her gently against my chest, her chin on my shoulder. Her panicking ceased after a moment or two and I drew back again to look her in the eye.

"You're not dead, Bri."

She blinked owlishly at me. "K-Kurama…I…I…"

I smiled in what I hoped was a disarming way. "You don't have to explain anything you don't want to. I understand."

Bri blinked slowly, breathing deeply. The rushing of the stream was all that I could hear, that drowning out her soft breaths easily. Slowly, she pressed the heels of her palms against my shoulders and pushed me back.

"I don't know what to do. Say. Be. I'm…I'm not the same. You're not the same. But…"

"But I still love you just the way you are, Bri," I said. "I love you, Bri. I just don't understand you sometimes."

Both blue eyes narrowed at me. "Youko Kurama, what the hell were you thinking!"

I blinked. "Wh—"

"First you weasel everything out of me, then you sneak around behind my back to find out stuff, and now you save me from drowning myself cause I can't figure you out and now you say you can't understand me! I don't understand you!"

I stared at her, and then I started laughing. I couldn't help it. What she said made no sense at all, but to her I bet it made all the sense in the world. I was probably making her mad—but I'd rather her be mad at me than trying to die again. Instead, I was glad to hear her laughter join mine. She threw her arms around my neck.

"I missed you…" she whispered. Her cheek rested on mine, and I could feel the warm salt of tears trickling between them. "I missed you so much. And you were right there…"

"Why didn't you just tell me, Bri? Why?"

"Scared."

"Of what, Bri?"

"You wouldn't…you wouldn't remember me. Again. Like with Youko…back in the Makai." She sniffled, her slender shoulders tight in my grasp. "I couldn't…"

"I'm so sorry…my little kitten."

She paused a moment. "Fox boy, why do I smell blood?"

I blinked, for once at a loss. "Er…Toki…"

Bri coughed against my shoulder, and then I felt an odd pain—she bit me! Bri bit me!

"Ow!" I murmured as she glared at me.

"Presumptuous, aren't you," she said.

"I only—"

"Very presumptuous."

"Now hold on a second—"

"Good thing you were right or I would've killed you."

I blinked, unsure of what to say. Kuronue would have laughed at me, and Hiei would have rolled his eyes, ever-so-slightly.

Bri sighed and climbed shakily to her feet. I jumped up and offered my side silently to steady her.

"You almost drowned," I murmured. She buried her face into my chest, her arms draped around my waist. "I almost lost you again, Bri. Don't do that to me again."

"Hey, I had to watch you die in my arms before, you idiot," she muttered against my side, her voice slightly muffled. "I was only getting you back."

I chuckled softly. "We're even, then."

"We can't stay together, Kurama," she murmured. I could feel my t-shirt beginning to grow damp with her quickly-cooling tears. "It's wrong…you're my teacher."

"We won't be together in Human world," I said, tightening my hold on her shoulders. "I can't be myself without you any more, Bri… I'd rather die than not be with you."

"Don't make good on that remark," she said darkly. "I did it and look where it's landed me."

I chuckled softly and carefully lifted her up into my arms. "I won't so long as you won't. Again." Slowly, I kissed away her tears, the somewhat-dried water of the river. I licked at it, teasingly. She giggled under me, crying for me to stop. I didn't stop. I was addicted to her taste. The crook in her neck, the space where her human ears should have been. I nipped at the rim of her true ears, only to grab hold of them gently and tug.

"Quit it, Kurama!" Bri shrieked. "What are you trying to do, eat me?"

I nodded happily.

"I'm not a mouse."

I shook my head.

"Then what are you doing?"

I yanked her ear hard.

"What do you want?"

I drew back, lazily smiling and staring into her eyes. One sky, one ocean. I held her closer, as I had never done and yet had many times before.

"You," I whispered.

I softly kissed at her face, at her cheeks. The lids of her eyes, the temples beneath her bangs. I nipped at her chin, held it lightly in my teeth. And then, I took her lips on mine.

My Bri, my kitten, my mate…

She tasted of hot chocolate and so much more.

Years of false hope, of denial, of admitting freely that I could not love her because she was too young drained away. All that mattered was that she was here, I was here, and everything else could be shoved off into Limbo with the younger Toguro. It's coming home and finding out that everything you had always held dear was now clearer, greater, better than when you left that makes this life a joy to live.

Slowly, Bri broke the kiss, staring at me. I could see the worry still in her eyes.

"What is your mother going to say?" Bri asked quietly.

I was silent for a moment. What would my mother say? She was nearing her fifty-sixth birthday, and I hadn't stated any interest in anyone. Would she believe that I'd fallen for one of my math students? I nearly laughed at the thought.

I held her tighter. "I don't know. I missed this…and I didn't even realize it."

Bri smirked against my neck. "Try actually knowing it for thirty-one years."

…Bri…

We headed back toward the hotel, neither of us wanting or needing to talk. He had proved me wrong in every way. I sighed and leaned against him, my strength back, but not really wanting to lose the cozy warmth of his body. I stepped away for a moment, only to jump on his back and tumbled with him to the ground; half hoping he would kiss me first. I missed his kisses.

Kurama grinned broadly, reminiscently of Youko. I had never been this happy to see a glimpse of the old silver-haired fox.

"What are we going to tell the others?" he asked.

I giggled. "Most of them already know, or did you forget that?"

He brushed his lips against mine, but murmured again. "You know what will happen if we come out in the open about this in Human World."

"We don't have to come out in the open in Human World. It can be a secret, right? Do you care?" I glanced up at him hopefully. He had already stated that he didn't care, but sometimes even he could get caught in the moment, I think.

He glanced to the side. "Slightly. My mother…"

I sighed. He still hadn't answered that question. "Yeah. I don't want to hide from Kaasan."

He chuckled softly and, in one swift move, pulled me over his shoulders and into his arms. "I've been hiding from her for years."

I yanked a tuft of his silky red hair. "We have to fix that."

Kurama nodded, though I could see the pain in his deep green eyes. He had been hiding from Kaasan for years—twice as long as I'd hidden from him.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, still holding on to a thick strand of hair. It felt soft, like the outer petal of a rose, and yet it was tufty, fur-like. Just like his fox form's fur. With a start, I realized it was the first time I'd seen his fox form, though I'd kind of been hazy and underwater and all that. I had never become my own fox form, though I knew I could.

"We should head back to the hotel, first of all." I could see him thinking, see the wheels in his head turning, chugging like an old-time clock's cogs. "We still have to face the aftermath of this Tournament of Trials. The judges were waiting until you awoke."

I blushed and I squirmed out of his arms. I could walk on my own two feet. I walked away from him, playing hurt as I strolled aimlessly toward the hotel. "Oh, thanks, make me feel bad about going to sleep. I was exhausted, okay? Playing a guy with that many lines is draining."

"You make an excellent Hamlet, Bri. But I think that having Horatio fall for Hamlet in the duration of the play would have made it that much sweeter a play."

"Um, hello, this is Shakespeare we're talking about here," I said, rolling my eyes. "If he would have thought of it, he would have done it."

Kurama chuckled and nestled his chin in the crook between my neck and shoulders. "I was alive, if you recall, when he was writing these plays. Demons enjoyed them because Shakespeare used iambic pentameter—a language before only reserved for higher authorities in Spirit World. He didn't realize that."

I laughed. "So that's where the old man got it. To think, we have gods to thank for such long-winded monologues that are so hard for people to understand."

"Not so difficult if you pay attention."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on. I bet Okuro is getting worried about us. The old bat is bound to get antsy when the room's empty and he has no one to prank. Speaking of which, Kurama, I still have to get him back for the Chronodom incident." I grinned over my shoulder at him. "Any ideas?"

Kurama chuckled. "You don't think he had help? I was the one who asked him to do it, though for different reasons than I think you imagine."

I smirked darkly. "Then you had best watch yourself, Youko Kurama. I have grown up my second childhood with an expert prankster."

He murmured into my ear, tickling the fur at the edge with the tip of his tongue. His voice sent shivers down my spine. "I look forward to seeing exactly what Bridget Kokomo Wolf can accomplish."

I laughed nervously and broke away from his grasp. "I have an idea in the meantime. Let's not say anything about the change in dynamics for a bit. Just until after we've gotten back home."

Kurama nodded. "Things are confusing enough without adding this to the mix."

"Are you suggesting that you, of all people, are confused? What a concept."

He shoved me toward the hotel and we walked in as if we had never changed. Kuronue spotted us across the lobby.

"You're finally awake?" Kuronue asked. "Why didn't you change?"

I blinked, glancing down at my rumpled clothes. "Er…I forgot?"

"Oh…" He spoke in my head, for the first time in months. Something different 'bout you, Bri. Are my balls safe?

Huh?

The last time you forgot to change, you said you'd have my balls if I made a big deal out of it.

Oh. Sorry. I'm going to change; you let the others know I'm awake.

Kuronue stared at me as I brushed past him and onto an open elevator. When I came back down, everyone was waiting for me, including Yomi, Koenma, Botan, Gunner, and Gina. Jun and Yume nearly tackled me to the ground upon sight. They were both shouting at the top of their lungs about sweet snow and chocolate.

"We'll get some later!" Koko shouted, laughing. "Jun, off!"

"Yume, Bri has to breathe, honey," Keiko said, pulling her daughter away. The little girl looked so much like Yusuke; she had even cut her hair short. But it looked more like when his hair was ungelled. I guess Keiko had stopped her short of that, at least.

Gina and Gunner offered a hand on either side of me.

"You going to get hurt if they keep doing that, Wolf Cub," Gina said with a grin. "I heard your art got a thirty point."

"Yeah," I smiled. "Well, are we going to go see the judges and find out what's up or are we going to stand here and gawk at me for the next millennium?"

"Some of us won't live that long," Gina pointed out. "Humans, you know."

I sighed. Kuronue, how many of your friends died?

Too many to count. We'll have to go through that a great deal, I'm afraid. Unless Gina, Gunner, Gun Wa, and the others decide to mate with demons.

Like that'll happen.

You never know.

I sighed inwardly. Koenma and Yusuke led the way, our gaggle of friends, family, and other assorted oddballs following into another room of the hotel. The three judges stood against one wall. We gathered around them in silence and waited.

"Welcome to the last Trial of the Tournament," The Moon said. "Or rather, the truth of the tournament that we ran."

"The truth?" I stared at her. "The threats weren't real?"

"They were," The Sky said shortly "But they were not from us." He ran a hand absently over his potbelly, considering.

"There is much you know, and yet do not," The Star said. "There is much you think you know, but is not true. Please, be seated. This will take some time."

The three pulled their cloaks from over their heads.

I gasped.

…

…

…

Are ya'll happier with me now? (covers head in fear of retaliation) So, why do you think Bri gasped when the trio pulled their cloaks from over their head? Hmm? We all know who one is, I think. But who are the others? And will Kaasan accept Bri and Kurama's relationship? Will they ever tell anyone else in Human World?

Kuramafan: I am evil…really…And sarcasm is a foreign language to me…I can barely tell when my characters are using it, and I'm the one writing! And yes…I don't think Bri was even under the water for a whole minute when Kurama got to her.

Sillylittlenothing: Bri…ish alive. Thank God, lol. I don't think I made it very tear-jerk worthy but you let me know, kay? Kurama ish very intimidating when angry…O.O Meep. I know.

Sonya: SHE LIIIIIIIVES! (laughs) I just wanted to do that. So Bride of Frankenstein, though I never did see that movie…O.O

Peeka-chan: Thank you for hiding me. (sighs) Why do people get so upset with cliffies? I don't usually get that upset. Kurama enjoyed it, you know he did, the naughty little dog…(With real foxes, the girl is called a vixen and the guy is a dog, while the kids are the kits. Who knew Kurama had something in common with Inu Yasha, eh? Lol ) Keep those nice thoughts, they only get better as you let your imagination go…Eheh. Look at me, the naughty 19 year old hentai I am…

Lucifer: Nope. Just about, though. Scared ya, didn't I? (grins)

Sally: O.O You can stop…really…I'm not that evil…am I?

Rayne: I'm not that mean…T.T

Charter Mage Z: Dun worry, Bri ish all right. Kurama did hunt me down, and then he made me rewrite the chapter until he liked it. I hope that Shiori accepts them, though, I think that's probably going to be the last obstacle.

Bookworm: (sweatdrop) Um, Kurama, I most likely would have written anyway, but it wouldn't have been any good…Thank you for not spearing Kurama or me with the pitchfork, though. That wouldn't have been very nice. Though, fish-face in the new DVD definitely tried to spear Kurama through. I thought about giving the reviewers javelins instead, but I didn't want to be killed any worse than necessary. I'm very pleased with the reaction to the "biggest cliffie in history".

SilverDragon: I think Kuronue would have tied Kurama up on Tokyo Tower by a g-string, his body painted bright red, and called world news in to videotape how he got down. You almost cried? O.O I didn't think it was tear-jerk worthy at all…I don't know the power of my own words. I really don't.

WindRacer: She lives! Okay, randomness ish good. Me like randomness. Check out the reaction I gave to SilverDragon's review. What would Kuronue do to Kurama if Bri died?

BlackCello: I was sorta waitin' on ya, cakes. Go to sleep so that you can give me a nice long review on this one! Lol