Disclaimer: I don't own YYH. JD and Criss are mine, as is, unfortunately, Jun.

Chapter 3: Class One

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Kurama walked along the edge of the creek that ran away from Jefferson College. It was so peaceful here. The birds twittered in the trees, the creek swished along at his feet. He could hear a needle drop inside one of the houses he walked past.

"Nice day, isn't it?" Kurama stopped and turned around. Before him stood a demon, a female komori demon by the looks of her. Her hips swayed to the music of the birds as she approached him. "It's been a long time, Youko Kurama. I miss you. Why did you leave America, hmm?"

Slowly, the demon's identity dawned on Kurama. She had been one of his acquaintances during his stay in America, specifically, in Philadelphia. Her name was Sparkle, and she was often called the "Gold Digger". She looked for pretty things, snatched them up, and tossed them away when they were done.

"I had to return to Japan. Kuronue needed my help. We robbed Spirit World."

She smiled at him, that deadly, dangerous smile that he knew so well. "So I've heard. That didn't turn out so good, did it, my little fox imp?"

"N-No…it didn't," Kurama whispered. He couldn't resist her, it was part of her natural charm that no man could resist. Her lips claimed his, in all the fire and passion he remembered of the komori. He felt his throat being robbed of its tastes, felt her fingers pressing into his skull. Her hips against his.

"So, what say you and me—BEEP BEEP BEEP…"

BEEP BEEP BEEP—

Kurama shut his alarm clock off with a growl. He couldn't tell whether he'd just had a very pleasant dream or a freaky nightmare. The Gold Digger was notorious for snatching men like him, seducing them, and tossing them dead by an abandoned highway. He knew that being in America again would bring up memories, but why that girl?

"Yo, what the hell are you doin' just sittin' there?" JD danced into the room to the beat of some hip hop song that Kurama had no clue about. Something about writing murder, he thought. "We only got ten minutes for breakfast if you want it, man."

Kurama nodded and stood to his feet. He pulled on a pair of clean blue jeans over his boxers and a white t-shirt over his A-shirt. He grabbed his back pack and his books for the first class, which started at eight o'clock. It was now seven twenty.

"Why do we only have ten minutes for breakfast?" Kurama asked.

"We've got ten minutes to get it," JD answered. "Criss told me. She was here a while ago. They stop serving breakfast at seven thirty, but you can stay in the cafeteria to eat it as long as you want. All the cooks are second years, see."

Kurama really didn't understand what the cooks being second years would have to do with them serving breakfast only until seven thirty. Still, he stepped into his tennis shoes and followed JD out the door.

Jefferson's cafeteria was actually a fairly nice place. There were circular tables next to huge windows, and the food was served off of buffet-style carts. Kurama could have as much as he wanted. The drinks bar had so many different types of drinks, ranging from coffee to juice to pop to milk. Even some exotic drinks from places like Java, Indonesia, which was where half of the other international students were from.

JD piled his plate high with pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, a bowl of Rice Crispies drenched in milk, and three glasses, containing orange juice, peach tea, and Pepsi with a hint of lime. Kurama was a little shocked to see so many selections, and opted for a little of everything, including a bright red apple that still had a leaf attached.

The two boys found Criss sitting alone at the farthest table in the back. Since Jun was nowhere in sight and Kurama knew no one else, he sat at her table with JD.

"Good morning," she said brightly. "Sorry that my roomie's not here, she doesn't have class until ten. She said to let her sleep."

"Lucky girl," JD said. "My first class is eight o'clock." Kurama and Criss both made noises of agreement.

"What do you have?" Criss asked.

"Honors Writing." Kurama and JD echoed at once. They looked at each other, a little shocked.

"Hey, me, too," Criss smirked. "We can suffer together!" She glanced at Kurama, a little surprised herself. "Say, Shuichi, you know that much English? I barely got in that class!"

"I made a twenty-seven on the ACT in English," Kurama said.

Great one, Shuichi, she's already suspicious.

It's not my fault they put me in that class instead of the ordinary writing class.

True. Don't forget that she's a C level already. She's almost as strong as JD is. Why didn't you tell that to Koenma?

She seems weaker, somehow.

I'm sure she'd really appreciate that, Shuichi.

"Well, are you guys ready to go?" Criss broke him from his thoughts. As she stood, Kurama noticed that she had some sort of black thing around her wrist. It had silver marks on it, and when she stopped moving, he realized that they were skulls. Her entire attire was darker than what they'd been the day before. She wore black and silver. Her t-shirt read, "Shoot First, Ask Questions Later."

It all seemed to clash so harshly with her slightly tan skin and honey-brown hair. Her slight pudge showed a little more when she wore tighter clothes, but it made her seem a lot more skinny, too. It was a strange combination. He noticed that she also had a slight gap between her two front teeth when she smiled over her shoulder at them.

Criss walked away with her tray, and JD and Kurama gathered their trays and trash. Criss waited patiently by the door. JD smirked.

"I saw that, Shuichi Minamino. You were checking her out."

"I was merely thinking how strange her attire was compared to yesterday's," Kurama said smoothly. He wasn't lying at all.

"Mmm hmm. I agree with you there. She ain't no goth, I tell you that."

Among the typical hubbub of normal campus life (from what Kurama had seen), Criss was altogether sticking out like the first rose bloom on a bush full of buds. Or like a black crow amidst spring grass.

Criss smirked. "Ready? Honors Writing is in the main lecture building, Washington Center. Most of our classes are there, I'd guess. I've met the teacher. She's nice. Yvonne Wilderness is her name. Just call her Yvonne, no formalities around here. Ms. Stephings is about the only exception I've met so far."

Kurama took a deep breath. He had to ask.

"Criss…I was wondering, have you had any martial arts training or anything like that?"

Suddenly, Criss's eyes turned hard, cold, and angry. She turned those eyes on him, and he noticed with a start that they'd turned a deep shade of midnight blue. They were far from her bluish green eyes he'd gotten used to seeing.

For a moment, there was silence. Kurama didn't know what to say to break it, and Criss only seemed to glare at him if he made any sort of move. JD cleared his throat after a couple of minutes, bringing both Criss and Kurama back to reality.

"So…where's this building at again?" he managed to squeak out. "I'm totally lost, man."

"Follow me," Criss said. Her voice was cold and edgy. She marched off toward a building near the chapel, leaving both JD and Kurama confused.

"Man, I've never seen a girl get so bent outta shape over a question," JD said softly. "It's like she has some big secret. What do you think, Shuichi?"

"I don't know."

But I intend to find out.

JD looked at him a little funny, but didn't say anything. Criss led the way into an enormous lecture hall with tiered seats. The seats were a little strange, in that they had a desk that you could fold away. Kurama took a few minutes to get used to folding them in and out before looking around the room. There were five other people in it besides Criss, who had moved as far away from him as possible, JD, and himself.

When the clock's minute hand hit seven fifty-five, a very young woman with dark chocolate-colored skin walked in. She was wearing bright yellow sunglasses and a sundress to match. She set her things down on the computer table at the head of the class, unpacking several short stacks of paper. At eight o'clock on the dot, she turned and gave the class a brilliant smile with her bright yellow lipstick.

"Good morning and welcome to Honors Writing," she said. "I'm Yvonne, your instructor for the term. Now, there should only be eight of us…so I'll call roll right quick. Jo Applegate?"

A quirky girl who held an enormous bag in her lap and a white baseball cap on her head waved her hand.

"Jason Dogg?"

"JD, ma'am, and I'm in da house!"

"Er…all right, JD… Ingrid Krackers?"

A large girl raised her hand, then resumed gnawing on her fingernails. She continually looked all around the room before settling her eyes on her desk again.

"Shuichi Minamino? Ah, yes, our excellent foreign exchange student. Japan, right?"

"Yes." Kurama nodded.

"Okay…Criss Nallen? Oh, there you are, Criss, I didn't see you up there."

The last three on her list were boys, all of whom were quiet with brown hair, tanned skin, and conservative clothes. They were triplets, by the names of Jorge, Miguel, and James Sanchez.

Just like every other class Kurama had ever had before, Yvonne passed out a syllabus and went through it tediously. As if none of her students could read or comprehend a standard syllabus or any of its functions. At ten till, class ended. Kurama and JD packed their things up. Kurama didn't have class for another hour, but JD had his E. Bio class right after H. Writing.

The sound of someone clearing their throat met his ears not a minute after JD left.

"Hey, Shuichi, um…" It was Criss. "I just wanted…t-to apologize, for earlier. It's just…"

"I understand," Kurama said quietly. "I was only asking because I could feel you've had some sort of training."

Criss looked at him, a little more than shocked. "You can sense my weak power? Jeez, and I thought you were just making fun of me."

"What?" Kurama stared at her. "Why would I do that?"

"Well…you've probably noticed I'm a little overweight." Her weight shifted from one foot to the other. "Well, I kind of thought you were making fun of me because of it… I'm sorry, I was jumping to conclusions. Again."

Kurama smiled. "I'd never do that, really. I was just wondering if you'd like to train with JD and me. I've got some…things I'd like to do, but I can't discuss them out in the open."

Criss's nose twitched. "Um, okay. We can meet on the roof, after everyone else has gone to bed. Sound good?"

"Great."

Now all we have to do is find the little vixen.

Youko! Her name is Jun. She is a person.

I know, but she's so feisty. Why can't we seduce her, Shuichi?

It's wrong, for one.

She flirted first.

I'm not going to get into this again.

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Kirei Kiane: It's not Kurama so much as it is Shuichi…I think I've got it somewhere in my head that they're like two separate people living in the same body, not the same soul. I think that children in the womb already have souls, therefore Kurama had to merge with Shuichi in order to do it.

It's also that I believe that everyone has that "debating voice" in their head, the Yin and the Yang (NOT the devil and the angel). So I like Youko being the Yin and Shuichi being the Yang, and the two usually balance one another out. That is why Kurama usually appears so calm, because he literally has those two in his head. The demon and the human, living peacefully at once.

So, I've really got two characters in one person that are usually living as mutualists. But I also think that the morality that Youko has is still a little skewed. Shuichi isn't so much a "perfect son" than someone who's still trying to keep Youko's morals clean. He prevents Youko from performing acts that are impure, such as his experience with the "Gold Digger" in his past.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I'm portraying him through my own experiences and from what I've gleaned on the show. Youko's not a playboy, I know that. But still, even the best of men make mistakes. And Kurama's going to make a big one.

I like these bantering back-and-forth things, actually. It's a lot better use of my time than sitting on the computer in the lab with nothing to do but search for more fics to read. I usually only find one that I like, if I do at all. I find way too many Hiei-Kurama fics out there…

Why is it that just because Kurama is a pretty boy that they think he's gay? Just a thought.

ONE MORE THING!

Did ya'll notice that Criss is a little forgiving? Maybe too forgiving? Hmm…

Oh, and Criss does not suffer from short-term memory loss, it's something else.