Secrets

By: Cece Williams

((Disclaimer: You already know; I said it over 20 times.))

Yusuke: So, does he stay over?

Cece: The chapter will tell that.

Yusuke: Hope he got some ideas….

Hiei: (hits Yusuke) Shut up, and let her write.

Cece: Thanks, Hiei! (smiles) Read on!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Andrea mentally kicked herself when she heard the confusion in Kurama's voice. Maybe she was asking for too much at one time. "Well, uh, if you don't want to, I'll understand," she said after the initial shock was about over.

Kurama blinked. "No! No, it's all right. I was just surprised," he answered her.

Andrea nodded her head. "Okay. I'll have the couch, okay?" she said to him while digging the keys for the door out of her coat pocket.

"I'll take the couch."

Okay, this is really odd, Andrea thought, but when she heard Kurama's answer, she stuttered, "W-what?"

Although Kurama wanted to laugh at Andrea's confused look, he didn't. "I'll take the couch, you can have the bed."

Andrea turned to look at him, even though her neck was hurting still from the abuse she sustained. "Are you sure?" she asked. When she saw him nod his head, she unlocked the door and opened it. Okay, he's sleeping on the couch? she thought to herself. While her other half thought that Kurama was merely being a gentleman, she pulled the keys out of the door and almost dropped them. What? she thought, keeping her hold on the keys.

Kurama noticed that she had gotten quiet; the reason was unknown to him. "Is that all right?" he asked her.

Andrea nodded, starting to walk in the door. "Yeah." She saw that Kurama hadn't moved. "I'm not going to bite." She walked further in the apartment with him following her. She sat on the arm of the couch while he sat in a chair. Silence ate at them for a few minutes until Andrea had an idea. "I could make some popcorn. You know, make up for this afternoon," she said.

Kurama nodded his head. The idea was actually a good one. "Sure. I can pick a show if you like," he suggested back.

The suggestion was an even better one. "Sounds great," Andrea answered as she got up from the couch and Kurama went to pick out a movie. As Andrea walked into the kitchen, her mind was flooding with a lot of thoughts.

(Andrea's Thoughts with Conscious)

"Okay, at least this is a different setting..." Andrea blinked. Was this really she talking? "Am I sounding like Youko here?"

Her other half shook her head. "Um, no, you're sounding like yourself."

Andrea's hand went to her bruised neck. "Maybe I should get some ice for that neck, too. He looked really concerned about it." She went ahead and started making the popcorn.

Her other half nodded. "Good idea. And get some ice for the soda too; they're warm."

Andrea got ice for the soda. "Why did Jason have to come back?"

Her other half shrugged. "I don't know. But now that he is, what are we going to do about it?"

Andrea thought about what Kurama had seen earlier that day. "I can't have Kurama involved any more than he is," she said, finding a small zip-lock bag and put several ice cubes in it.

"Right, so how are we NOT going to involve him?"

Andrea sighed. She knew Kurama had a mind of a steel trap and that he could probably figure out something was wrong. "I don't really know," she said, looking at Kurama very quickly and then looking away.

Her other half saw that Kurama didn't even notice the sudden glance. "Well, we can't tell him," she said.

Andrea brought a hand to her face. "This is so confusing," she complained.

"Tell me about it. I'm your other half, I get half the migraine."

"I don't know if he could hear this, but I hope he doesn't," Andrea said.

"He's not a telepath."

"Good."

(Back to Reality)

While Andrea was making the popcorn, Kurama was looking through Andrea's somewhat large collection. He thumbed through at least a dozen, including "Ringmaster" and "You Only Live Twice," which was a James Bond movie. As he saw the cover for "Coyote Ugly," he quickly thought not; he wouldn't give Youko the satisfaction. "Titanic?" Too long. He saw a movie called "Pet Semetary" and saw it wasn't opened.

Andrea looked into the living room at the back of Kurama's head. "So, uh, found anything?" she asked him.

Kurama nodded, holding the DVD in his hand. "Uh, yes, I hope you don't mind "Pet Semetary," he answered. "If you're not scared of things that go bump in the night, of course."

Andrea chuckled at Kurama's reference to vampires. "Kurama, I've seen 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'From Dusk Till Dawn.' I'm immune," she answered, thinking that "Pet Semetary" had vampires in it.

Kurama nodded his head. "Good, because I've seen uglier vampires then the ones on 'Blade.'

Andrea scratched her head. "Where?" she asked him. Not that I have no idea what he's talking about, she added to herself.

"Vampire City," the redhead answered her.

Andrea looked at Kurama, her blue eyes shining from the artificial light from above her in the kitchen. "And how do you know I'm not one?"

Kurama pointed out her window at the dark sky. "It's always dark in Vampire City," he answered her. He looked at Andrea as she pulled on a pair of sunglasses and faced him. Kurama couldn't help but try not to laugh. As Andrea smiled, revealing vampire teeth, he thought the joke was over. "Perhaps I shall find a stake and hammer."

Andrea took off her sunglasses and pouted at Kurama playfully. "Why?" As Kurama gave her a smirk, she took out the fake vampire teeth and started laughing. "You should've seen the look on your face."

Kurama nodded his head. "I believe I did. Shall we?" he asked, holding up the DVD.

Andrea nodded her head. "Okay." In her mind, she told herself, Oh, my God, I can't believe I pulled that. Her conscious thought differently, but before she could ask it, Kurama put the DVD in while she grabbed the popcorn, drinks, and ice bag and went to the couch.

Kurama looked at the ice bag, his eyebrow raised. "What's the ice for?" he asked her. When Andrea pointed to her bruised neck, he nodded, the confusion subsiding.

Andrea lifted her legs onto the couch and put the ice bag on her neck. It stung for a few seconds, but the pain left. "Doubt I'd want to wear a scarf all day at school," she said.

Kurama nodded his head. "That's true," he answered, pressing play on the DVD remote.

Andrea kept the bag on her neck while she slid the popcorn between them. She wanted to avoid bodily contact if it was at all possible. "You knew I was kidding about the teeth, right?" she asked. When Kurama told her he did, she pouted slightly. "Aww…"

Kurama chuckled. She looked so cute when she pouted.

Andrea looked over at him. Oddly enough, no lamps were turned on and the light from the TV made Kurama's face change different colors, his eyes turn from emerald to sandy and back to emerald, and his red mane look darker than usual. "What if I were to tell you I might go as a vampire for Halloween?"

Kurama looked over at Andrea, mostly to make sure she was all right. The Youko in him, however, was noticing that without the lights on, the female Tantei looked even more mysterious. Her blue eyes looked darker, her skin changed colors rapidly and her hair looked almost black. Kurama mentally pushed the Youko back in his mind. "I wouldn't mind that at all," he answered.

Andrea's eyes lit up like Christmas lights. "Really?" she asked, and she saw Kurama nod his head, which made her relax. That is, until there was a scene where the cat that had been brought back killed a man by biting his neck. She yelped and latched onto Kurama's arm almost like a little girl. When she saw Kurama looking down at her, she blinked and let go.

(Andrea's Thoughts with Conscious)

Andrea kicked herself, almost appalled with what she had done. "What in the name of Enma was I just doing?" she asked.

Her conscious giggled; she loved seeing Andrea so surprised. "You latched onto him!"

Andrea started to look pale. She never thought she'd do something like that, especially to Kurama. "I didn't mean to," she answered.

Her conscious rolled her eyes. "Of COURSE you didn't mean to!" she came back. "We don't mean to latch onto the guy we think is the hottest in the world."

Andrea grabbed a throw pillow and hugged it while planting her face into it. "I hope he didn't notice."

Her conscious wanted to lie to her human half. "Oh, he noticed."

Embarrassment and fear rose through Andrea's spine. She could only hope and pray to Enma that Kurama thought it meant nothing. "Any idea how to drown yourself?"

(Youko's Talk with Kurama)

Youko looked at the recoiling girl and scoffed. "Wow, and I thought she was immune to 'things that go bump in the night', Shuichi," he said.

Kurama rolled his emerald eyes at Youko's sarcasm. "That are most often exaggerated," he answered.

"And she just let go and bunched into a ball... with an ice pack on her neck," Youko said. "It's not like I'm going to bite her."

"She was probably shy."

Youko nodded. "Yeah, that or she's scared of a movie."

"Some people are. But she's faced worst. Remember?" Kurama asked.

Youko's gaze turned almost deadly. "Don't remind me. Karasu could've... you know," he answered.

Kurama knew what he meant… all too well. He was actually thankful that he was able to stop Karasu from killing her. "Yes, he could have."

(Back to Reality)

All of a sudden, the phone rang, which made Andrea jump to her feet and Kurama glance at the ringing phone. "I'll get it," she said, going to the cordless phone and picking it up to answer it. "Hello?"

On the other end, Yusuke gave a weak imitation of the guy from "Scream." "What's your favorite scary movie?"

Andrea rolled her blue eyes, unimpressed and a little annoyed at Yusuke at the moment. "How about "'Detective Sings Falsetto When I See Him'?" She looked at Kurama, who had started to chuckle into his hand.

Yusuke jumped back into his normal voice. It took a lot to scare Andrea, but Yusuke wasn't doing a good job of it. "How'd she figure that out?"

Andrea looked almost very annoyed at the Detective on the other end. "I may have lived from Karasu's attack, but don't think I won't kick your butt." She looked at Kurama's still chuckling form and tried not to laugh herself.

Yusuke heard Kurama chuckling and smirked. "Hey, is that fox-boy over there? Oh, did I interrupt something?" He said the last sentence as if he thought they were up to something.

Andrea tried not to hang up on Yusuke. "Yusuke... don't make Kurama hang you from a Death Tree again."

"Yeah, still hurt from the last one."

Kurama shook his head. "He deserved it."

Andrea nodded, winking at Kurama. "Oh, isn't Keiko on the other line?" she asked.

Yusuke's eyes widened. "Oh, crap!" With that, he hung up.

Andrea hung up as well, but now she was almost ready to fall on the floor, laughing. "Baka yarou, Urameshi."

Kurama chuckled at the way she handled the phone call. "How did you know Keiko was on the other line?" he asked her.

Andrea shrugged her shoulders, and as she turned her head to the door, she saw something sliding under the door.

Kurama noticed the same something slide under the door and looked at her. "It was a guess?" he asked her.

"I guess," Andrea answered, walking to the door and picked up the mail. "The usual junk," she said, but as she saw another letter, she blinked, more or less stunned.

Kurama saw the look on her face and immediately looked concerned. "What is it?" he asked her. The only answer he got was that he saw Andrea tear open the envelope and lean against the wall. The silence was getting to him; something had to be wrong. He walked up to her. "Andrea?"

Andrea bunched the letter in her hand, half from instinct, but also half for Kurama not to figure out what it said. It's him again, she thought to herself.

(Andrea's Thoughts with Conscious)

Her conscious shook her head. "Can't tell him."

Andrea sighed, a little more nervous now. "I just hate keeping things from everyone," she answered.

"Hyphenate it."

Andrea knocked her hand to her head. "How? He looks like a hawk looking at me right now."

"Give tidbits to him. That way you're not really lying."

At the word "lying," Andrea looked stunned and upset. "Like what? 'It's just a prank letter?' He'll figure it out! He's not stupid!"

"A letter, from an acquaintance."

Andrea hated lying, and it looked like the only way for Kurama not to get any more involved than he already was. " I don't have a choice; I have to tell him the truth. Or else it'll be like last time, only reversed." The thought of hurting him after he saved her life still hurt and angered her; she never really meant to.

"We agreed to not tell him."

Andrea shook her head. "I've never kept anything from him, and I can't start now. Now that Kurama could be the next target for Jason."

"He'll go protective on you."

Andrea's emotions got the better of her. She felt like she was between a rock and a hard place. "What choice do I have? If he doesn't know, and he knows that I'm lying to him, which he'll know, everything will go down the tubes."

Her conscious felt like slapping the ignorant Tantei. "Girl, do you want him protecting you all your life? Are you a Reikai Tantei or not?"

Andrea rolled her eyes. "Hello! I couldn't do any fighting in Orlando, remember?" she almost screamed.

"But there weren't any demons in Orlando."

Andrea gave her conscious a blank stare. "That's my point." Hearing her conscious give a dejected sigh, she came back to reality.

(Back to Reality)

Andrea looked at the bunched-up letter in her hand. "Oh! It's just a prank letter, that's all," she answered him. And I just lied to him, she added to herself.

The concern didn't leave Kurama's features. He still had a thought that something was wrong… and that something was the thing Andrea wasn't talking about. "Are you sure?" he asked her.

Andrea's heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest; she had to stay calm and to not let anything slip, although it was hard to do that. "Yep," she answered, tossing the note and envelope in the garbage.

Although Kurama had a suspicion that Andrea wasn't really telling the truth, he didn't say it in front of her. "All right. I left the movie on pause if you want to return watching it?" As Andrea nodded and sat back on the couch, Kurama followed her… with one thought running through his head, Did she just lie to me?

The Youko in his head shrugged. "I dunno. Though she looked kind of upset when she saw that letter."

Kurama glanced at the letter in the garbage, then to Andrea, who looked like she was trying everything in her power to not explode about what the letter she threw away said. Something is not right, he thought to himself.

(Youko's Talk with Kurama)

Youko scratched his head. "You said it, not me. Sounds like she's trying to keep something in."

Kurama's eyes took a more concentrating look. "Yes, but what exactly could it be?" he asked.

"Probably about that Jason jerk..." Youko had a look in his gold like colored eyes. "I'd love to hang him from a Death Tree..."

Kurama nodded, although the treatment, in his view, wasn't what he had in mind. "I second that. But if it is that, we can't help her."

"Unless she fesses up and says what the letter said."

Kurama shook his head. "I doubt it," he answered.

(Back to Reality)

Andrea felt the pressure of lying to him get larger on her; her hands were clammy, her eyes were darting in every direction except on Kurama, who she could feel his emerald eyes on her, mentally forcing the truth out of her. I'm telling him... I don't have a choice, he thought, although the thought of him being protective was better than with her dead. She took a deep breath, though it was shaky, and said in a low voice, " 'I'm going to take you back to Orlando with me, and that girly man you're with isn't going to stop me. Either you come with me, or I'll kill the redhead.' "

Kurama looked at her. No wonder this was tearing at her mentally. It was a threat against his life for literally taking Jason's ex-girlfriend away from him. If it was one thing Kurama didn't like, it was being threatened. He fought really hard to keep the Youko in him at bay; he didn't want to say anything to Andrea that he would regret later. He didn't care how far he was involved; he now had to keep her safe and away from her ex. His means, though, were a different matter.

Andrea looked at Kurama, halfway regretting what she had just said by just looking at his eyes. "That's what the letter said exactly."

(Youko's Talk with Kurama)

Youko looked angry… and with a good reason. "I knew it! That bastard's trying to take our mate! Now, where's that Sinning Tree?"

"Left ear..." When Kurama heard the "m" word, however, his emerald eyes widened in shock and also looked at Youko. "Whoa! Wait! What was that!"

Youko rolled his eyes. "Let me up it in words you can understand, Red. Jason jerk wants Andrea to go back to Orlando with him, or he'll kill you. He's using you to make her do what he wants."

Kurama shook his head. "No, a few words after that. I believe it starts with an 'M.'"

Youko smacked his hand on his head. "Don't tell me you haven't thought of her as your mate. Enma, are you dense?"

"Youko, she's just a friend, nothing more!"

Youko looked at his human counterpart unbelievingly. "Riiiiiiight. Then how come you were flirting with her earlier today?"

The question caught Kurama off-guard. "I...don't have to answer that."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

(Back to Reality)

Andrea turned away from Kurama and clenched her hands, her fingernails almost breaking the skin. She lowered her head, wishing that she didn't tell him, but also wishing he wasn't looking at her. "I'm sorry," she said in a low voice.

Kurama shook his head; he knew that she had to tell him, but he didn't mean to scare her into apologizing. "It's not your fault," he answered.

"I brought you into my dilemma," Andrea said, reaching one hand under the cushion and feeling underneath it.

Kurama continued to look at her; his eyes now looking more worried than upset. "I brought myself."

Andrea felt metal under the couch and pulled her hand out from under the cushion almost as if she were shocked. "I didn't need to. I mean you already had enough on you. With Karasu and your family, you know. I just don't want you involved more than you are."

Kurama grabbed Andrea's hand lightly, seeing the fingers of her hand relaxing, which was a good sign. "Andrea, if you're in trouble, I want to help," he answered. "And as far as I'm concerned, I'm already involved just as much as you right now." He looked at Andrea, who had now nodded her head and was trying to smile. "You can trust me, Andrea, right?"

Andrea nodded her head. With all that could happen, she needed someone she could trust, and, mentally, she thanked Enma it wasn't Yusuke. "Hai," she answered.

Kurama's hold on her hand went a little tighter; a "hold of reassurance" would be the correct term. "I'll protect you."

Andrea looked at him, her eyes still a little worried as to what Jason could do to Kurama. "Even though you know what he could do?" she asked him.

Kurama nodded reassuringly. "I am not afraid of him."

Andrea was probably the first person to be shocked at how he was handling this. Other guys would've either burned the letter or killed the guy already. "What about the letter?" she asked him.

Kurama looked down at her. "You think I would be intimidated by a few little words?" he asked, leaning back on the couch.

Andrea grabbed her throw pillow and held it near her. "Well, I did see your face when Yusuke said something about you," she answered.

Kurama chuckled into his free hand; he knew what Yusuke kept trying to do. "Yes, well, that's Yusuke. This is an entirely different matter," he said.

Andrea let the words sink in as she watched the movie. The thing she didn't notice, however, was that she was now lying against him. "I know," she said to him.

Kurama felt the slight pressure on him but paid no mind to it. "I assure you, we'll be fine," he said, looking down at the girl on the couch with him.

"I trust you… Shuichi Minamino," Andrea answered, using his human name. Ironically, for a Tantei to have good reflexes, she still didn't notice that she was still reclining on Kurama.

Slightly chuckling at her use of his human name, Kurama let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her while watching the movie, which was over in thirty minutes. Kurama looked to his side, about to let Andrea know the movie was now over but saw she was asleep. He patted Andrea on the shoulder, but she didn't wake up. "Oh, well, I suppose one night never harmed anyone," he said to himself.

(Youko's Talk with Kurama)

Youko pumped his fist in the air. "All right, Shuichi!" he said to his human counterpart. "Now, which place to kiss her goodnight…"

Kurama smacked him upside the head. "Just let her sleep, Youko!"

(Back to Reality)

Kurama pulled a throw pillow behind his head and fell asleep soon after.

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((Is Jason's letter to Andrea a joke? What happens when Kurama and Andrea wake up in the morning? Find out in the next chapter!))

Yusuke: Aww… that's so cute…

Cece: (hits him) Shut up!

Kurama: Read and review here. Before we have a fight on our hands. (sweatdrops)