(1-14-05) Well here's the famed "mystery fic." I hope you didn't have some grand ideas in your head. I've sorta used the idea before, but it was different...School either was or wasn't the main focus of the other fics. I think this is more a focus on relationships and stuff... Maybe sorta not... But maybe... But... Ah, dammit. I can't believe I'm writing a humor/romance. This cursed story, it's... Ah, God. Just read it. Leave me alone! ::cries in a corner::

CHAPTER ONE
POTATO!!!

"Ah... Life is wonderful..." Shadow sighed, sinking down to her neck in her swimming pool.

"Psh. Maybe yours..." Yusuke muttered.

"My life is wonderful, thank you."

"Mine sucks."

"Why?"

"First, because you exist. Second, because of school. Everyone there is retarded, and I have to do this homework or Keiko will have my head on a platter!"

"She wouldn't do that. You're kind of important."

"Not if I flunk math again. This is the final report of the year, before our final grades and our summer break. If I don't do this, I get a zero and that drops my grade to a high F! For FLUNK!"

"Whatever. I'm just glad I don't have to do that stuff." And with that, Shadow submerged. Hiei walked over to Yusuke and peered over his shoulder at the paper.

"Wow. Sucks to be you."

"Yusuke, pi is 3.14," Kurama said grimly, looking over his other shoulder. "You've done every single problem on there wrong."

"WHAT? Oh, this is shit! I give up!" He flung the paper up in the air and stomped away.

The top of Shadow's head, up to her eyes, surfaced. She watched him storm into the house, and then she eyed the abandoned paper Hiei was examining. Bubbles floated up as she tried to talk, gagged, and had to drag herself out of the pool by her own ear.

"Gag! Hack! Cough!" she wheezed, her legs dangling in the pool as she spit up water on the lawn.

"CANNONBALL!" Eclipse came tearing out of the house and leapt over Shadow, doing a cannonball into the pool and splashing water everywhere.

Shadow sat there spluttering for a second. "Wow. I'm all wet."

Hiei sighed. "You were underwater, Shadow, of course you're wet."

"Good point. You know, I bet I could do his homework," Shadow said. "He's just stupid."

"DON'T CALL ME STUPID!" Yusuke shouted, walking out the back door. "You would DIE if you had to go to school!"

"No I wouldn't."

"We went to school before, remember?" Hiei said.

"If I recall correctly, Shadow was a lot less... Stupid... then..." Kurama said. "I think you probably would die if you had to go to school."

"For an entire year!" Yusuke said. "As a matter of fact, I challenge you! I bet there's no way you'll survive another year in school."

"Me? I could! I'm almightily superior to you and your dumb pies! What have pies got to do with math, anyway?"

"Pi is a number, Shadow."

"No it's not! It's food!"

Kurama sighed. "I'll be smart, then. Pi is approximately 3.14. It expresses the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle and appears as a constant in many mathematical expressions."

Shadow narrowed her eyes. "I hate you... Dictionary..."

"Yes, I know, I'm hated often by people too stupid to admire me..." Kurama joked.

"So do you accept the challenge?" Yusuke asked, glaring at Shadow.

"Yes I do! I will go to this thing you call school, and I will survive it."

"With an A average all year. And without missing a day."

"HEY! You just added that!"

"Should have read the fine print, Shadow," Yusuke admonished.

"I never read the fine print! Wait, fine print on what?"

Yusuke held up a sheet of paper he'd just scribbled this down on.

"Incomprehensible scriggly things!" Shadow said cheerfully. "I can't read that at all! Not even the not-fine print! Stupid bastard!"

"It says you agree to go to school for a full year and get an A average, and look, you signed it," Yusuke said, pointing to a dotted line with an X on it.

"That doesn't look like it says 'Shadow Jaganshi' to me..."

Hiei sighed. "Retard."

"You're in this with me, you know! Everywhere I go, you go!" Shadow threatened.

"I am not! I am not surgically attached to you!"

"Yes you are, and you know what? I'll find a way for you to go to school with me, even though Koenma finally officialized you as being like, twenty-eight..."

"When'd he do that?"

"When I harassed him to."

"... Why?"

"Because you go to jobs and work and you don't EXIST! It's not good!"

"But I get paid, so what does it--"

"BRILLIANT IDEA! Nobody move!"

"What is it?" Yusuke asked.

"You moved, dammit! I forgot!"

Collective sigh. "That's to be expected."

"Wait, wait! I just figured out how Hiei's going to school with me! Come, much preparation is indeed going to occur in near futuristic times!" Shadow grabbed Hiei's wrist and ran into the house.

"You can't send her to Mieou High again, Yusuke," Kurama said. "And there's no way she'll sustain an A average for an entire year."

"She's going to Mieou High, Kurama. As a matter of fact, you're going to sign her up and she'll go at the start of this next coming school year."

"I really don't think this is a good idea..."

"Sure it's a good idea!" Eclipse said, appearing out of nowhere behind him. "It'll be like the good old days!"

"What 'good old days' are you referring to, Eclipse? Shadow's never gone to school with you before," Kurama pointed out.

"Me and you and Shadow, skipping merrily through the hallways while everyone stares at us like we're nuts... Ah, those were the days."

"... I don't recall ever skipping through the hallways with you OR Shadow... As a matter of fact, I think the last time I skipped was... Well, I don't remember ever skipping..."

"You poor, deprived child," Eclipse muttered, shaking her head sadly.

"When in reality you're several hundred years old, Eclipse, skipping feels a bit immature..." Kurama pointed out.

"I still skip, and I'm sixteen."

"You're a completely different story..."

"Story?! I like stories!" Eclipse plopped down on the ground and looked up at him. "Do tell!"

Kurama groaned. "That's not what I meant..."

Meanwhile, through all this, inside the house Shadow had been talking to Hiei.

"So what's your grand idea...?" Hiei asked, not sure whether to fear the answer or not.

"You, Hiei, are going to become a teacher!"

"NO," the fire demon replied firmly, without hesitation. "No way, Shadow. You couldn't pay me to be a teacher."

"Well, you will get paid if you're hired..."

"I don't even know the first thing about teaching!"

"Yes you do! Here's the first thing: You're in charge, and the kids have to do what you say or they get punished. You know that. You know more about teaching than you think! You've taught me stuff with a sword! You'd make a great teacher."

"Shadow... Listen to me. Teaching sword techniques to a half demon friend of mine and teaching school subjects to a bunch human kids I don't know are two totally different things. You accepted the bet with Yusuke. You get to go to school, I get to stay home. Okay?"

Shadow looked at him pathetically. "Please?"

"NO!!!" his mind screamed for him to say, but he settled for, "There might not even be any openings there, Shadow."

"If there are, will you consider applying?"

"NO!" his mind screamed again. "I don't want to, Shadow."

"Please? For me?"

"You owe me!" she insisted.

"What for?!"

"So many things, Hiei. So many things. Like for starters, this is my house. I've been kind letting you live here for the past two years. In addition to that, I cook for you several times a week, I clean the house on occasion for your benefit, I do all the womanly things the lady of the house should do, DON'T I?!"

It was an undeniable fact. "Yes, I suppose so..." he said meekly.

"What have you done for me in return?"

"I did get that job at the prison just so you could have money and get a pool, and I bought you your motorcycle, and if need be, I protect you."

"All things I could have done myself. It's just easier to send you off, since you're the man and traditionally, men do everything outside the house and women stay home and take care of the kids we don't have!"

"Yeah? Well, all that stuff you do for me, I can do myself. I did live in Makai for a long time, Shadow."

"Fine! Go ahead! Go live in your trees like you used to! I bet that in a week or less you'll be back!"

"Yeah right!"

"I bet you'll die if you have to go a week without seeing me, without me to talk to or fix your food or wash your clothes! Without having a roof over your head or a warm, soft bed to sleep in! You know, the weatherman predicts torrential downpours on Wednesday and Thursday! I hope you drown! Get out! I don't want to see you unless you're ready to come back and go apply to teach at Mieou High!" Shadow snapped.

"Fine! But I bet you'll be the one regretting my absence!" Hiei spun on his heel and walked away angrily, pushing past Yusuke, who cussed at him, and then stamping into the forest.

"What was that all about?!" Yusuke snapped angrily at Shadow.

"I banished him from my sight," she replied calmly. "For a whole week."

"What for?! Is he cheating on you or something?!"

"NO, FOOL!" Shadow snapped. "We made a bet!" She pushed past him. "Hey Kurama!"

The redhead was sitting on the ground reading over Yusuke's math paper, marking off things with a red pen, circling and adding things. Shadow went over to him.

"Hey, are there any teachers retiring at your school at the end of this year?" she asked.

"Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?" he asked, chewing the end of his pen before marking a few things off on Yusuke's paper.

"Huh?"

"Even if I hadn't heard the entire argument, Hiei would have told me anyway when I asked," Kurama said, sparing her a glance.

"You suck. So are there?"

"Yes, a few..."

"Such as?"

"Um..." Kurama circled a few things on the paper then looked up at Shadow, thinking. "Umeki-sensei. She's taught History for about thirty years... Then there's Nanami-sensei, but he taught the freshmen science classes... The English teacher, Mason-sensei, is being transferred, and Ukiri-sensei is moving to Yusuke's school. He taught phys. ed."

"And they don't have a replacement yet? For any of them?"

"There's still nearly a month of school, then three months of summer vacation. They have plenty of time... Mason-sensei is being replaced by another American... I believe his name was Stonewood or something..."

"Stone wood? That makes little sense..."

"What?"

"Well, a stone and wood are two completely different things!"

"You don't speak English!"

"Yes I do! You mean you've never heard me swearing in English?"

"Well, maybe, but that's just swearing. It doesn't mean you speak the language fluently."

"Yes, I'm quite fluent. I also know a few simple sentences in German and Russian, but nothing much. But boy could I cuss somebody out in about twenty different languages!" she said proudly. Then she cleared her throat. "Ahem... Anyway, so Hiei could apply for a history teacher or a phys. ed. teacher?"

"I think the chemistry teacher is transferring to a school in Hokkaido... Usually we don't get so many new teachers in a single year... Too bad we can't get a new principal..."

"Aw, dude, do you still have that same dipshit guy who wanted to beat the crap out of me and Hiei because we supposedly assaulted that one whore in your fan club?"

"Yamashita. Yes." Kurama spotted something on Yusuke's paper and sighed, muttering, "Area of a circle varies directly with the square of its radius..." He scribbled something out and wrote out an equation above it.

"Damn. I'm gonna suffer," Shadow sighed, choosing to ignore the math talk. "Somehow I can't picture Hiei being a chemistry teacher."

"Neither can I, Shadow. I can't picture him being a teacher of any sort at all, really... YUSUKE, COME HERE!"

Shadow paused. "He'll come back in under a week, won't he?"

"I doubt it, Shadow. Despite how he acts, he's still able to block off any emotions, and after living in Makai in worse conditions than anything here, he's quite capable of living in the ningen wilderness around your home."

"Love is a very strong emotion, Kurama. Surely you know that."

"Are you saying he loves you? Is this just something you're guessing, or is there something substantial to prove it?"

"What did you want? You know you could have come to me." Yusuke interrupted their conversation. Kurama and Shadow exchanged a glance before the redhead stood up and held out Yusuke's paper to him.

"I fixed it up a bit. Go type it up and call me if you need help with anything else. We can't have you failing any more."

"Hey, thanks!" Yusuke said, looking over the paper with a smile. "I wish you'd type it for me too, but you know, I guess I kinda need to do something on my own..."

"True. Now get to it. It's due tomorrow, isn't it?"

"Yeah... Where'd Hiei go, anyway?"

"Long story," Shadow said. "Get lost. Go do your paper. I need to discuss something with the fox."

"Fine, whatever," Yusuke replied, walking away. Shadow looked back at Kurama.

"You were saying before he interrupted?"

"About Hiei and your relationship. Has he admitted love?"

"Well, not in exact words..."

"He hasn't marked you?"

"No, and before you ask, we never had sex either."

Kurama nodded. "I see. Well, I can understand if he does love you. You certainly are close friends."

"Yes, that's why I'm sure he won't like being away from me for a week."

"He can see you, though, with his Jagan, so he won't be as separated from you as you will be from him."

Shadow paused. "He could be watching us right now, couldn't he?"

"It's possible."

"Listening to everything we say."

"Yes."

"He's had countless opportunities to spy on me in the shower."

Kurama seemed slightly disturbed. "Um, well, yes, I suppose so, but that doesn't mean he has..."

"But should he ever develop some extreme pervert streak, he'd have no problem."

"...True..."

"I bet if Youko had a Jagan, he'd use it a lot more often than Hiei..."

"..." Kurama seemed really uncomfortable on the subject.

"Hey... When Youko was part of Hiei--"

"So, Shadow, what classes are you thinking of taking?" the redhead asked abruptly. Shadow blinked.

"Well I'm probably gonna take English, and-- Hey... wait... He didn't..."

"You should probably take something easy, so you can keep--"

"He DID, DIDN'T HE!"

"No! No, he didn't..." Kurama replied nervously.

"OH, THAT LECHER WILL PAY!"

"He didn't, I mean, he didn't see anything!"

Shadow practically exploded. Then she started shuddering with disgust and fumed, clenching her fists until her fingernails dug into her palms, babbling incoherently before spinning and stomping away cursing loudly in a wide variety of languages, occasionally shuddering and letting out disgusted yelps.

"Hey Kur-- What's your problem?" Yusuke said, nearly running over her in the doorway. "Where's Kurama?"

She looked at him and let out a strangled '...Eeep...' and walked away shuddering. Yusuke stared after her for a second until Kurama came up on the porch.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Never mind, Yusuke."

"Oh. Well I need help on my paper."

"Mm-hm..." the fox said distractedly. Yusuke stared at him, then looked after Shadow with a slightly annoyed look.

"What is going on here all of a sudden?"

"Nothing..."

Eclipse came running up onto the porch and through the door, pushing both boys aside in her hurry, though it was unnecessary since they were several feet apart anyway. She vanished up the stairs. Yusuke, lying on the ground, blinked and glared in her direction.

"Stupid girl. What's her problem?!"

A second later, there was an explosion. "HE DID WHAT?!"

"I've gotta go," Kurama said quickly.

"What? You're gonna leave me here with them? ALONE?"

"Yes," the fox said, already out the door.

"Why?"

"MOVE!" Eclipse pushed Yusuke aside and went after Kurama.

"Eek!" The fox ran. She followed.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Yusuke shouted. Eclipse tackled Kurama.

"It wasn't me! It was Youko!" he yelped.

"Well then transform so I can bludgeon 'im!" Eclipse yelled.

"And Hiei had some part in it too, you know," he said meekly.

"Hiei's not HERE. Where's Youko?"

"Youko is a little... occupied...?"

"Then I'll beat YOU."

"Eee..." He struggled out from under her and managed to get to his car and speed away. She glared.

"YOU CAN RUN, BUT I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!"

"What the heck is going on?" Yusuke asked angrily. Eclipse blinked.

"Nothing!" she said cheerfully, walking back inside. The boy just stared cluelessly at where she had been until the slam of the door brought him back to the real world.

"Nothing?" He went back inside.

Meanwhile, in the forest, Hiei was alone again. Having been alone the majority of his life, it was no big deal. Right...?

"Dammit," he muttered, his hand on his belt, noticing his sword's absence. I wasn't a thief for no reason. I'll just get it tonight. She'll never know.

In the mean time, he decided, he'd... Sleep? Wander around aimlessly? Spy on people? Pace around Tokyo terrorizing small children! No. Hm.

'Are you BORED? BORED? HIEI JAGANSHI! You've become soft!' nagged a voice in the back of his head. Hiei glared at no one in particular.

'Shut the hell up.'

'You're a bloodthirsty murderer, Hiei, remember? A thief! Not some civilized ningen fool, watching television and buying food from grocery stores, already prepared and ready to eat! Remember how you lived in Makai!'

Hiei snorted. 'My life in Makai wasn't exactly great, you know. Wait... What the hell!' "I'm talking to myself!" he said aloud. "Find something to do!"

'Kill something!'

'Shut up. I can't kill ningens.'

'Find a cat!'

'There are no cats in this forest, Mr. Voice. Shadow's made sure of that. Now kindly GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HEAD!' Hiei darted off, like he could run from the little nagging voice.

'You've become soft! Do I detect that you care about these people? About Shadow? Psh. Some heartless bastard you are.'

"La la la," Hiei said, plugging his ears.

'I'm inside your head, fool! You can't block me out!'

'Watch me.' "LA LA LAAAAAAAAAAA LA LA. I do not have voices in my head, I am not insane, and I haven't become as soft as you think! Who thinks? What! I'M TALKING TO MYSELF! Companionship for two years has tainted me! Ah!" He ran faster, until he found a suitable tree and started beating the shit out of it.

Back in Shadow's bedroom, she had somehow managed to tie herself up in a bundle with the comforter on her bed. Eclipse was trying to talk to her.

"Hey, you know, that was ages ago! Maybe Kurama was lying!"

"Uh-uh!" Shadow yelped.

"Well, but, maybe he, um... Maybe he thought you were like, in danger or something! I'm sure there's a valid excuse!"

"Uh-uh!"

"Shadow!"

"Uh-uh!"

"LISTEN TO ME!"

"POTATO!!!" Shadow yelled, flinging the blanket off her and throwing her arms wide, smiling and cheerful. "What were we talking about?"

Eclipse fell flat on her face, nearly breaking her nose. "YOU ARE SO STUPID!"

"Potato? Shoe? Um... Green!"

"No! No, no, no! Go--"

"FROG!" Shadow guessed confidently, like she was answering a question.

"Where? What? Hey, don't distract me, baka!"

"Kawaii kaeru desu ka."

"SHUT UP!"

"Iie!"

"You're so STUPID!!!"

"Um... Hai!"

Eclipse went stomping away. "Fine! You go ahead and talk about cute frogs! Just completely forget that Kurama was spying on you in the shower!"

"WHAT?!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

Shadow's scream could have been heard at the center of the Earth, all the way on the other side of Earth, and if sound traveled in space, it could have been heard on Mars.

"HE DID WHAT?! WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? THAT'S IT, HE'S DEAD! WHERE IS HE? I'M KILLING HIM!" Shadow shouted, stomping down the hall and shoving Eclipse to the side unnecessarily. She stomped down the stairs, found Yusuke at the computer, and stomped over to him. "Were YOU spying on me in the shower TOO?"

"What?!?!" Yusuke yelped.

"YOU HEARD ME! AND IF YOU DIDN'T, YOU'RE DEAF!!!"

"I WASN'T SPYING ON YOU IN THE SHOWER! What do you mean 'too'?"

"Where the hell's Kurama then?" Shadow asked, ignoring Yusuke's question and walking away.

"Kurama? KURAMA was spying on you in the shower?"

"That's what Eclipse said! Where is he?"

"He went home about five minutes ago when you were flipping out and shuddering and being horrified over some-- Oohhh... Eclipse was gonna kill him... That's why... Woah... Well, I assume he went home."

"Bye," Shadow said coldly, stomping up the stairs and returning two minutes later in her motorcycle leather. "He will die."

"Well, don't kill him... He's kind of important, Shadow..."

"No he's not. Nobody who spies on me in the shower is." She went out the door and a second later her motorcycle sped away. Yusuke stared after her.

"Uh-oh."

Eclipse came up behind him. "Did she go to kill the fox?"

"Yup."

"Not good."

"Nope."

"You gonna do something?"

"My math paper."

"... Need help?"

"You couldn't help me."

"I'm in Trigonometry, Yusuke."

"You?"

"Yes. Me. What other person would I refer to as 'I'?"

"Dunno. Well... You wanna do my paper for me?"

"Didn't Kurama already do that?"

"...Sort of."

"Get typing."

"I don't wanna."

"Well I'll be sure to tell Keiko that when you flunk."

"Fine! Jeesh... You people. Evil, I tell you."

Eclipse grinned cheerfully at Yusuke's back as he headed back over to the computer.

"I'm probably gonna go off and have to restrain Shadow. Bye."

"Ja mata."

Eclipse went out the door. Yusuke plopped down in the cushioned office chair in front of Shadow's computer and started typing slowly. A few minutes later, Hiei walked through the room.

"Hey! Hiei! I thought Shadow banished you from the house!" he said, getting up and going after the little demon.

"She banished me from her sight. That means, as long as she's not around, I can be in the house. But I know that's not what she meant, so I'm just getting my sword and cloak, then I'm going into the forest and I'm going to pretend the past two years haven't happened."

"What?"

"To be honest, I've become soft," Hiei said, walking into his room and going to his closet. Yusuke stayed in the doorway.

"You? No, you're not soft, Hiei! You're just... more social now. You can still be a heartless bastard towards everyone else, you're just kind to a select few people."

"Hn. Ja mata." The little demon was out the window. Yusuke stared.

"Fine! Just LEAVE while I'm TALKING TO YOU!"

"Did you have anything of pressing urgency to tell me, or were you just procrastinating to keep from finishing your homework?" Hiei asked, back in the windowsill.

"I just think you haven't become soft. You're just acting how we all knew you would naturally, beneath that cold, hateful exterior. Know what I mean?"

Hiei snorted. "He's procrastinating," he muttered to himself before dropping to the ground. Yusuke glared at the open window and mocked Hiei in a snotty voice before walking away.

- - -

Shadow's five-minute memory span had come into effect before she'd reached Kurama's house, and all she remembered was that she was heading to Kurama's house. Why is it that her mind only malfunctions when it benefits or endangers somebody in some way?

She pulled up outside his house, got off her motorcycle, and headed up to the front door. Ringing the bell, she waited calmly for somebody to answer. Shiori, Kurama's mother, opened the door.

"Oh, hello, Shadow!" she said, smiling. "I haven't seen you in quite some time!"

"Hi, Okaasan," Shadow said, smiling widely. "Is K-- um... Shuuichi here?"

"He just got home a few minutes ago... Come on in, I think he's up in his room."

Shadow walked inside and looked around, her helmet under her arm.

"That's your motorcycle?" Shiori asked, looking out the window.

"Hai."

"Oh, dear. Those things are so dangerous..."

"I can handle it," Shadow replied. "I'm gonna go talk to Shuuichi."

"Okay, dear."

Shadow leapt up the stairs and went to Kurama's bedroom door, knocking sharply. Then she waited a second before the door opened a crack.

"Yes?"

"Hey, I forgot why I was coming here, but it was easier for me to come here than go back home, so I came here."

Kurama stared. "Are you serious?"

"Hai... Any reason you seem so startled?"

"No, no... How about we go register you for school now?"

"Oh yeah! Yusuke's bet! Let's go, then! What are you waiting for?" Shadow said excitedly, already at the top of the stairs, ready to go. Kurama sighed and followed her. Odd how she remembered that...

- - -

"Shuuichi!"

Kurama turned. Just outside the front office of his school, a girl came running up to him. He waited for her to reach him, trying to block Shadow slightly from view.

"Ayame... How are you?" he asked nervously.

"I'm good," she said, batting her eyelashes. "How are you, Shuuichi?"

'I was better before I saw you,' he thought angrily, but smiled slightly and replied, "I'm well. What are you doing here?"

"I had a few things to do with the arrangements for the prom... Are you going?"

Shadow smirked, reading between the lines. "Is she hitting on you?" she asked in a very low voice. A very subtle nod answered as Kurama spoke to the girl again.

"I wasn't really planning on it."

"Really? You should go!" the girl said pleadingly. "It would be so much better with you there!"

"No it wouldn't," Shadow muttered to herself. "All the girls would want to leave their boyfriends for you..."

Kurama couldn't help but snort lightly at Shadow's comment, which drew Ayame's attention to the leather-clad girl behind him.

"Who's that?" she asked, peering past the redhead.

"Shadow," Kurama replied, stepping aside. The black-haired girl grinned at Ayame.

"Konnichi wa!" she said brightly. "Hajimemashite and all that junk!"

"Yeah..." the other girl replied in a more dismal tone.

"She's here to enroll," Kurama said. "She'll be starting at the beginning of the next year."

"Are you related?"

"Iie, Shadow's a friend."

"...She looks familiar."

"She was here around two years ago..."

"OH! You're that Shadow! Isn't she your sister?"

"Iie... Ah... I don't really know how to explain it. It was nice talking to you, Ayame, but we really should get her enrolled." Kurama turned and pushed Shadow into the front office.

The secretary there smiled at him.

"Konnichi wa, Shuuichi-kun," she said. He smiled. "Can I help you?"

"Hai. My friend here needs to enroll for high school... She'll be starting next year... She was home schooled, but her parents have decided that it'd be best for her to go to public school for the rest of high school."

"They did?" Shadow seemed surprised by the news, and Kurama kicked her. The secretary didn't seem to notice.

"No problem! She'll need to take a few tests and fill out some papers, then we'll place her accordingly. Let's set up an appointment."

"Arigatou," Kurama said.

"Are you free this Saturday?" the secretary said, looking to Shadow from her computer. "Two thirty?"

"Yeah," Shadow said after a short pause in which she'd feigned thinking, like she actually might have had something else planned.

"Then you can come here, take the tests and do everything required to start school here next year. Okay?"

"Sure, okay."

"Oh, also, Isayama-san," Kurama said, "I have a friend who would like to apply for the new P.E. teacher next year. That position isn't already taken, is it?"

Shadow blinked. "Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?" she said, using his words from earlier. He grinned at her.

"Iie, it's still open. We haven't had many applications." The secretary looked past Kurama. "Is your friend here?"

"No, he was on vacation... He'll be back sometime this week, and I'll bring him here to apply."

"Okay."

"Arigatou, Isayama-san. Sayounara," Kurama said, turning and pulling Shadow out of the office by her arm.

"So how are you so sure that Hiei'll be back in less than a week from his 'vacation?'" Shadow asked.

"I'm not. But he'll apply anyway, you know."

"What? No he won't."

"Whatever..." Kurama said, shrugging. "I thought he loved you."

"He never said that, remember?"

"Right."

Kurama led her out to his car and they got in and drove off. Into the sunset. The end. :D

...What?

Did you think I wasn't serious?

If you did...

You're correct.

Smart child.

However, I think I'm done with this chapter, so... Ja mata.

Ja mata more or less means see you later. It's an informal goodbye, like you'd use with friends.It's probably the most commonly used Japanese term in this fic. Just so you know, I've got like, eight chapters written already, six or seven of them proofed, and this is now the only fic I'm working on, so it shouldn't take TOO long to finish... Perhaps... A MILLENIUM! Who am I kidding? I'm on chapter nine and I don't see the end anywhere in sight... It's still way over there. ::waves broadly at the horizon:: Sigh... What hole have I dug myself with this... A deep one, that's what...
Wow I'm tired! ::falls asleep::

WHY DOES IT TAKE OUT MY SPACES?! IT STEALS THE SPACES FROM BETWEEN THE WORDS! THERE WERE SPACES WHEN I UPLOADED THIS DAMN THING! IT KEEPS TAKING THEM OUT! RANDOMLY! AND WHAT THE HELL DOES IT NEED WITH SO MANY SPACES? OH, LOOK! NOTHING! ::walks away muttering::