Danger Upon Instinct

By: Cece Williams

((Disclaimer: If I owned Yu Yu Hakusho, do you think I'd be writing about them? I'd be married to Kurama and … Well, I don't own it, so no one can sue me.))

Cece: Sorry it's taken so long to get back on it; I have another new one out. "Experiences of a Tantei." But this is my pride and joy, so I'm sticking to this.

Yusuke: First time she's stuck to anything…

Kurama: (whaps Yusuke with hand) Yusuke!

Cece: Keep reading. As for me, I'm watching the fight. Oh, this is going to be a LONG chapter. I'm coming back to this story.

Hiei: There's a new key to follow: this is for Kurama/Andrea's thoughts and this is for Youko's thoughts and the girl's conscious. (looks at Cece eating popcorn)

Kurama: Someone's writing this chapter, young lady.

(Everyone looks at Cece, who laughs nervously)

Cece: Uh, I'll write so enjoy!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hearing the birds chirping outside the window, Andrea sleepily opened one blue eye and looked around. Why's everything slanted? she asked herself as she leaned her head against a "pillow." Enma knows this pillow's too hard. She tried fluffing the "pillow" before laying back down as she heard a slight grunting noise… and it wasn't far away. She blinked. Wait a minute; pillows don't talk… was the thought going through her head as she looked at a hand over her. Holy Enma! she screamed inwardly as she gently pulled the arm off of her and set it on the couch as she went to her room and closed the door to think. Once inside, Andrea let out a horrified scream. "What just happened!"

"Oh, you mean with Kurama? You two slept on the couch together. Go, girl!"

"WHAT!"

Her conscious couldn't help but laugh at the situation. "You heard me."

"We were fully clothed, stupid!"

"I know, but it's still a good step."

"This cannot be happening."

"Believe me, it is."

Andrea fell onto her bed, not believing what was happening. "I must have had that sake." /1/

"What sake? You had no sake!"

"Then, how do you explain falling asleep on Kurama?"

"Easy: you fell asleep!"

Meanwhile, while Andrea screamed, Kurama's emerald green eyes snapped open and as he tried to regain his balance, he fell face-first to the floor. What on Earth…? Kurama thought to himself as he was trying to place where the scream came from and why.

"…Was that scream? Oh, just a screaming girl. Way to go, Kurama!" Youko received a hand upside his head for his comment. "What?"

"Kitsune no hentai!" Kurama was not really happy with what Youko had said.

"What's wrong with that? You like the girl, don't you?"

Kurama shook his head at Youko's pitiful attempt at a reason. "You're just as bad as Yusuke."

"At least he's not shy about liking someone."

"He still hasn't told Keiko yet, you know, and it's been five years!"

"Well, you've known Andrea for a year and a half. What are you waiting for, a written invitation?" As Kurama popped him again, he pushed the redhead up on the couch again. "Well, she's probably putting the blame on herself again. Can't let that happen, right?"

Kurama really didn't like the way this conversation was heading. "What's in that perverted brain of yours now?"

"Nothing... just pushing you to her room to see if she's okay."

Kurama's eyes widened at the response. "Youko! I can't go to her room! What if she's getting dressed?"

"Kurama, you idiot! She was already dressed last night."

"Then, what if she's changing!"

"Okay, genius. What was she wearing last night?"

Kurama thought about this for a second. "I believe it was a light blue shirt, khakis, and her blue tennis shoes."

"Who knows? Maybe she's trying to get it through her head." Youko thought for a second. "You know, it probably shocked her."

Kurama blinked. SHE was shocked? "Shocked her? I woke up like a WW2 soldier!" /2/

"Glad to hear it."

Kurama popped Youko upside his head again. "It was your fault! You and your instincts!"

Youko rubbed his head, smirking. "Well, you did tell me to let her sleep. I just didn't tell you how."

Kurama was still fighting Youko's urges to go to Andrea's room that he didn't notice footsteps in the small kitchen.

"Coffee?"

Andrea's voice seemed to snap him out of it. He had no idea how long he was awake or how long he was on the couch, but he was thankful to hear her voice at that moment. "Huh?" He blinked, snapping out of it entirely. "Oh, yes, thank you."

In his mind, Youko was smiling. "You still like her."

Kurama rolled his eyes in front of him. "I heard that."

"Okay," Andrea complied and started making a pot of coffee. I can't draw any attention to myself, she thought as she thought of a topic to talk about, since the silence was getting to both of them. "So, um, is the weather on?"

Kurama looked at the blank TV, remembering that he did turn off the TV before he fell asleep. "I don't believe so," he answered. "Did you want it on?"

Andrea looked at him intently. "Unless you want to freeze outside," she answered.

"But that'll be okay," Youko said in Kurama's mind. "I'll hold her to keep her warm…"

While Kurama mentally popped the Youko in him, he nodded outwardly. "I'll turn it on," he said, finding the remote under the barrage of popcorn and turned the TV on.

Andrea smiled at him. "Thanks," she said to him.

Kurama nodded while he wondered why Youko was acting so strange. "What's with you? Are you starting to like her or something?"

Youko nodded. "Mm-hmm. She's got a nice figure."

Andrea leaned against the counter, dressed in a peach colored cardigan with a black top underneath and white jeans. Her bobbed reddish-brown hair lay gracefully on her shoulders and her blue eyes looked slightly clearer. "So, what did it say?" she asked him.

Kurama was looking at the TV, trying to block out what Youko was thinking. "Low into the 40s," he answered. "No snow. Too bad."

"What?" Andrea couldn't believe her ears. "You wanted some snow?"

Kurama couldn't believe his ears. "Something wrong with snow?"

Andrea shook her head. "Nothing's wrong with it," she answered. "Try living in Florida for a year."

"Can't imagine living in a place without the four seasons," Kurama answered her. He looked at her. "It's a Youko habit, you see."

"In that case, you'd want to stay out of Florida and Hawaii," Andrea answered him back.

Kurama chuckled lightly in his hand. "I'll take your advice on that," he said.

"Thanks," she answered, grabbing two coffee cups and looking at the coffee pot, which was filling at a good pace. "Believe me, Florida's nice, but try surviving ten hurricanes."

Kurama shook his head. "I can't imagine that, but try the earthquakes here."

Andrea laughed slightly. "Fighting over the weather now?"

"Seems so," Kurama answered, chuckling into his hand again.

Andrea looked intensely at Kurama, studying his face carefully. "From one curious mind to another, how do you tame that Youko side of yours?" she asked him.

"Oh, it's not that hard," Kurama answered her as honestly as he could. "You just have to know how to handle him." With a couple of lumps to his head, he added in his head.

Andrea looked to her side and saw that the coffee was ready. She grabbed the two cups and set them side-by-side. "Anything interesting he said while I was away?" she asked, pouring the black liquid into the two cups.

Kurama felt his heart start beating wildly in his chest, almost as if he were standing on trial. "Uh, no, nothing in particular," he answered, trying to retain his calm manner.

"Well, could be worse," Andrea answered, putting the pot back on the stove. She picked up the two cups of coffee and walked into the living room. Sitting down on the couch, she handed him one of the two cups.

Kurama took the offered cup and nodded his head in agreement. "True, I could be talking to Yusuke," he replied back to her.

Andrea tried to keep from laughing. "That knucklehead?" she asked him. "Sounds like Youko's a tougher one to handle." She took a sip from her cup.

You have no idea, Kurama thought in his mind as he took a sip from his coffee as well. "Not really," he answered her outwardly.

Youko, though, did not like the line he was fed. "What was that, Shuichi?"

"You heard me, Youko."

Andrea looked into the black liquid in the cup as if she could find another subject to talk about. She bit the inside of her mouth, a nervous habit by some, as her fingers nervously yet gracefully tapped the cup in her hands. "Um…" Her voice started off choked, more nervous than what she had wanted. "Look, about last night…"

Youko knew what she was talking about. "I liked it, too," he said before Kurama popped him in the head.

"Yes?" Kurama asked her, thanking Enma that Youko didn't say too much.

Hearing Kurama's voice only made Andrea feel even more nervous. She really didn't plan to fall asleep against him; maybe the popcorn had gotten to her head. "Um, sorry about that."

Kurama smiled reassuringly at her; he knew what she was apologizing for, but what he didn't know was why. But he wouldn't force it out of her. "It wasn't your fault," he answered her.

Andrea took a deep sigh of relief. Now that the air was clear of anything from last night, it was time to get out of the house… well, apartment, really. "Well, now that that's out of the way, hopefully there's something we can do that involves people," she suggested.

Kurama thought for a second. "Well, there's always the movies…"

"That she fell asleep on you last night," Youko finished, a teasing glint in his golden eyes. "Come on, you liked it, too."

"Youko…." Kurama was about three inches from turning him into a piñata.

"Nothing too, you know…" Andrea was trying to think of an appropriate word for "so romantic it makes me sick." "…Mushy."

"Well, there's 'X-Men'," Kurama suggested. /3/

Andrea blinked her eyes. Of all the movies she had seen in America but not Japan, this was not one of them. "How'd you know?" she asked him.

Kurama's emerald green eyes looked at her in a somewhat knowing glance. "Easy, Hugh Jackman."

Andrea looked at Kurama, a teasing glint in her eyes. "What, the great Shuichi Minamino's afraid of some competition?" she asked him, smiling as if she enjoyed watching the kitsune squirm.

Kurama raised an eyebrow at her, teasing Andrea right back. "Maybe, but maybe not," he answered, his green eyes glittering like two valuable emeralds.

The teasing game was too fun to stop at the moment. "Oh! And I guess that makes Halle Berry my competition, right?"

At those words, Kurama's eyes went wide as he choked on the coffee he was drinking at the moment.

Andrea hid a laugh behind her hand as she set her cup on a coaster. "The look on your face, it was priceless," she said, trying to stop laughing.

Not to mention my death, Kurama thought to himself as Andrea stopped laughing as well and was growing concerned about him.

Youko, though, was paying no attention. "Halle Berry," he said, licking his lips and letting out a purr.

"Aren't you a little old for her? Maybe by a few hundred years?"

"Aren't you a little young for her?"

Andrea patted Kurama on the back; the laughter exiting her eyes and concerned entering them easily. "Are you all right?" she asked, her voice growing more concerned by the second.

Kurama turned his head to look at Andrea's concerned face. He knew then that she didn't mean to do what she did. "Yes, the coffee almost went into my lungs for a second there," he answered and saw Andrea's face calm back down to normal, more relieved than normal.

"Maybe the next time I make a joke, I'll make sure you're not drinking anything," she said, smiling almost like her usual self.

Kurama nodded his head. "Probably a good idea," he answered her.

Andrea leaned back against the couch, even more relieved that nothing really serious happened. "So, what time does it start?" she asked him.

"The matinee starts at noon, I think," Kurama answered her as he saw Andrea sit upright.

"And what time is it now?" she asked, looking for her watch.

Kurama checked the clock that sat on a small table on the other side of the couch. "It's just after nine…" Just then, he realized he never called his mother to let him know where he was! "Oh, Enma! I forgot to call Mother!"

Andrea fell off the couch as the realization came to her head. "Nani?"

"I forgot to call Mother and tell her I was staying over!" Kurama's normally calm features now turned somewhat panicky. "She'll be worried sick!"

Youko rolled his eyes. "You forgot to call your mother?"

"Okay, unlike some people, our mothers don't toss them at a week old."

Youko looked slightly hurt. "Ouch, that's hitting below the belt."

Andrea had scrambled back onto the couch and found her cordless phone. Finding it and checking it to make sure it wasn't dead, she handed it to him. "I'm sorry," she said to him.

Kurama's hand grabbed the phone… but also graced Andrea's fingers slightly. Keeping himself from blushing like a fool, he looked at her. "It's not your fault; it's mine," he answered and proceeded to call his mother.

Youko rolled his eyes again and popped the redhead upside his head. "You got that right."

"Ow!"

Andrea looked in her purse to make sure she had everything in it that she needed. Her wallet, ID, everything that she wanted in there was in there.

Meanwhile, at the Minamino home, Shiori was washing clothes when the phone rang. She set the basket down and went to get the phone, which was in the kitchen. On the third ring, she answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, Mother," Kurama said from the other line. "It's Shuichi."

Shiori looked at a clock not far from the phone. "Oh, hi dear."

"I'm sorry I didn't call you last night," Kurama started his apology, and with a mental note to Youko to not say anything, he continued. "I had gotten hung up on some things."

Shiori knew about how much studying her son had on him while in college, so she was able to understand a night away from home would do him some good. "It's all right, Shuichi," she answered warmly. "I figured you'd need a night away from all the stress you're under."

Kurama smiled, knowing that his mother wasn't going to ground him. /4/ "Thank you," he said, his voice sounding relieved. "I'll be back sometime this afternoon."

"Be careful out there, Shuichi," came his mother's reply. "I love you."

Kurama mentally popped Youko before answering her. "I will. You too." After they exchanged their goodbyes, they hung up.

Andrea looked at Kurama, blinking at how short the conversation was. "So, is everything okay?" she asked him.

As Kurama nodded, his crimson bangs swished in front of his emerald green eyes. "Yes; she said I should have some time away."

"You can sure use some time away from Yusuke, definitely," Andrea answered with a hint of sarcasm that made Kurama chuckle lightly. "Think maybe I should give Yusuke a push in Keiko's direction?"

"I don't feel it's necessary," he told her. "Keiko's doing fine on her own."

Andrea shrugged her shoulders in a surrendering look. "Okay, but he's getting payback one of these days."

Kurama's green eyes glittered, hearing Andrea's suggestion. "Just make sure to take Hiei with you," he replied. "He's been planning revenge for weeks."

Andrea blinked her eyes in confusion. "What for?"

"Yusuke winning their first fight. I believe it was Yusuke's first mission too."

Andrea couldn't believe that she forgot about that. "Oh, right," she said as Kurama nodded. She found her black boots and pulled them on. "So, any secret routes you want to take?"

Kurama's eyes now took a thoughtful look as for an answer. "Mostly alleyways, but buildings do nicely also," he answered her.

The confusion was on her face more. "Buildings?" she echoed.

Kurama shrugged at her confused voice. "I used to do some building hopping when I was younger," he explained. "Kept up with my training."

Maybe wearing boots while jumping roofs wasn't a good idea. "Well, in that case, let me bring my rosary, a good pair of shoes, and a coat," she said, finding a better pair of shoes and pulling them on while hearing Kurama try not to laugh. "Now, where's that rosary?"

Kurama couldn't believe that she was serious about the rosary. "Andrea, you're not Catholic," he said to her.

Andrea looked at him while continuing her search. "Well, if I'm jumping buildings, I need something," she answered, though mentally Andrea was starting to get weirded out. Like some Prozac.

Her consciousness, however, was thrilled at jumping roofs, although her outward side didn't. "Oh, come on! It'll be fun!"

"'Jumping Buildings with Kurama...' Wow... sounds like tons of fun," she thought sarcastically.

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Got knocked out of me by a son of a bitch ex-boyfriend that we all hate."

"Then let me knock it back in!" With that, she knocked Andrea back to the real world.

Andrea had now entered the kitchen, forgetting about the fake rosary and finding her bottle. "Oh, it was here all along," she said, taking out two pills and pulling a bottle of water from the fridge. She popped the pills in her mouth and drank the water behind it.

"Ready?"

Kurama's soft alto snapped the girl out of her daze as she grabbed her coat and purse. "As ready as I'll ever be," she answered, still unsure about the roof hopping in store.

Kurama nodded his head and took his coat as well.

However, she had a horrible fear rising into her chest. "Great... building jumping and I'm scared of heights."

Her brain was fighting the urge to call a taxi. "Just don't look down."

Inside, Andrea was freaking out. "Hard to do that."

"No it's not. Just keep your eyes straight. You don't know what you'll find up there. A lot of neater stuff then on the ground."

Andrea thought of Yusuke. "Like a moron Detective?"

"No! Like a very nice view of the city, or maybe the morning sky?"

"It's about 11."

"Still morning."

"I'll just hope nothing goes wrong today."

"I'm sure everything will be fine." That was the last thought she had before she pulled on her coat, suddenly feeling a chill run down her spine and trying to hide it at the same time.

Kurama looked at her. "Ready?"

Andrea nodded her head. "Yeah," she answered, making a mental threat to her brain about Kurama and herself as she grabbed a tiny bottle and stuffed it in the pocket of her coat.

Kurama pulled his coat on over him, not in time to see Andrea stuff something into her pocket. "Shall we?" he asked her.

Andrea grabbed the keys to the apartment. "Yep."

Kurama opened the door and waved his arm outside as if he were a general in an army to a Southern belle. "Ladies first."

"You're spoiling me, aren't you?" Andrea asked as she walked out the door, keeping a small giggle in her throat.

"Yes I am," Kurama answered as he closed the door behind them.

Youko was starting to think, yet again, about the two together. "All you need is wine and roses and she's all yours."

Kurama mentally popped Youko in the head. "Can it, Youko!"

A serious air surrounded them, and it made Andrea a little hesitant about leaving today. Kurama had al of a sudden become quiet again. "Anything wrong?" Her voice started turning towards worry as she looked at him.

Feeling Andrea's blue eyes on him snapped the redhead out of his reverie. "Oh, nothing's wrong."

Andrea dug into her pockets and felt the small bottle inside. "Good it's there."

Her conscious rolled her eyes. "You put it there five minutes ago."

"Don't want him to know about it."

"Something tells me he does."

Andrea rolled her eyes. "Just be grateful it's not a gun." When the pair arrived on the roof, Andrea took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on.

Kurama looked at her. "You'll lose them, you know."

"I know," she said, taking them off. "Vampire teeth-free today."

Kurama chuckled from her joke last night about the vampire, almost forgetting what had happened. "Well, are you ready?"

Andrea nodded, looking at Kurama with a mix of seriousness and joking in her eyes. "You know, if I get killed, I know a few people from the Mafia."

Kurama started laughing, knowing that she was kidding. "I fear for my life," he answered her.

Andrea smiled, probably one of the first since last night. "I'm kidding. I don't know anyone from the Mafia," she said.

"I know that. The Mafia hasn't been public for fifty or so years."

"Although the Russian one's still active..." Andrea looked around thoughtfully. Maybe she'd stop watching cop shows for a while.

Kurama looked at Andrea's thoughtful look. "Shall we start? It's really very easy."

Andrea came out of her thoughts, hearing his voice. "Yeah, although jumping roofs isn't exactly my idea of a shortcut," she said.

"It is for Hiei; he gets around a lot that way. In fact, I showed it to him."

Andrea looked at her frame, which she had a small yet athletic frame. "One itsy-bitsy problem here: I'm a human. Broken limbs don't look good on me."

Kurama smirked in her direction. As for it was either Youko or himself smiling, he let it slide. "Care for a piggy back?"

Andrea shrugged her shoulders. "I don't mind."

Kurama nodded. "Then that shall be it."

Andrea looked at him, crossing her arms against her chest. "Remember, Minamino... I get killed, I ask for Mafia from the grave."

Kurama chuckled and crouched down for the girl to get on his back. "I'll remember," he answered.

Andrea almost struggled to get on Kurama's back, due to the fact they were both wearing coats, but then decided to grab onto his shoulders from under his arms. "I'll make sure you do."

Inside Kurama's head, Youko shook his head. "Kurama, scared of a Mafia?"

Kurama rolled his eyes. "Reikai forbid."

"You know she's thinking of the Russian one. They're still in business."

"Youko scared of a few Russians?"

"Reikai forbid."

Pleased that he had beat Youko, he looked at Andrea, who had now gotten settled. "You ready?" he asked her, wrapping his arms around the under part of her knees.

Still giggling about the Mafia joke, Andrea nodded her head.

"Hold on tight," he said, jumping high.

Andrea held on for dear life. "You know I was kidding about the Russian Mafia, right?" she asked him.

"Sure I do," he answered, landing on another roof and then jumping again.

Andrea propped her chin against his shoulder. "Now... about the Japanese one..."

Inside Kurama's mind, Youko busted out laughing. "She's a keeper, Shuichi."

"I have to agree," was his thought before he answered outwardly. "I think Yusuke's mother could help you out on that one. She knows the Yakuza like the back of her own beer bottle."

"Yusuke's a whole Mafia right there. So is Kuwabara when you tick him off enough." As she heard Kurama laugh and felt him land and jump again, she continued. "And then you have Hiei..." Andrea shuddered lightly. "He's a whole Mafia in himself."

Kurama laughed as he landed again and jumped again. "True."

"And then there's you... you could probably take on the whole Mafia alone," Andrea said, blinking in realization with what she just said. "Though I'm not asking you to."

"I don't fight without a reason."

"I know," Andrea said, and that was when her voice lowered and turned somber almost immediately. "Yesterday was a good enough reason..." She felt around her neck where she was almost choked the day before. Though it was still bruised, she was fine.

As Kurama landed on another roof, he remembered what had happened, how her ex-boyfriend had struck her in front of him and almost killed her as well. "Yes. It was," he said before jumping to another roof.

"There's something about him you need to know," she said to him.

Kurama kept his eyes forward, not wanting anything to happen to her. "What may that be?" he asked her.

"This wasn't the first time he's done this."

It was then that Kurama had heard Andrea's voice change, and he knew what that meant. "I considered that possibility," he answered. "But I didn't want to press unhappy memories on you."

Andrea shook her head. "It's okay. Better than bottling them up and then unleashing it to people you care about."

"True." Kurama landed on another roof. "We can go down from here."

Andrea got off of his back and let go of his jacket-covered shoulders. She bit her lip, thinking of another topic. "I know I'm changing the subject, but if you could have one mutant power, what would it be?"

"I think I'm happy with the abilities I've got," Kurama answered her question. "It's what makes them who I am."

"Though x-ray vision doesn't sound that bad..." Youko said.

"Youko..."

A smile slowly graced her face. "I know one I'd want," she announced.

Kurama's curiosity was getting aroused. "Do tell."

"And don't laugh," Andrea said, giving Kurama a jokingly warning glance. "I'd wish for the power to read minds."

Youko was impressed. "Though that's not bad, either..." That received a fist upside his head by his human half.

"I'm afraid Hiei already beat you to it," Kurama answered.

"I know," Andrea said, thinking of something different. "Maybe the power to control the weather'll be nice."

Kurama chuckled into his hand. In a way, it wouldn't be so bad. "Reikai forbid the floods it will have on your wrath!"

Andrea nodded. "Yeah, poor Koenma... he'd have a field day." Andrea looked at her watch. "Well, better get inside unless freezing to death's in your resume."

Kurama's normally calm face now had a teasingly thoughtful expression, almost as if Youko were trying to come out. "I don't think it is."

Andrea looked at Kurama, smiling. "Glad we agree on something," she replied, opening the door to let Kurama ahead of her before following him and closing the door behind them.

Once they arrived out of the building, they looked around while Kurama looked in a direction. "Theater's just a block and a half away," he said.

Andrea looked at Kurama. "Good," she answered him. "Now, what would I do with the power to control the weather?" /4/

Kurama tapped a finger to his chin in thought. "Stop droughts?"

Andrea nodded her head. "Yep. That and make Russia not so cold."

"And maybe there'd actually be ice in Iceland."

Andrea tried not to laugh. "And maybe some green in Greenland." As Kurama chuckled to that, she continued. "And make Florida not have hurricanes there."

Kurama nodded. "No tsunamis along the coasts."

Andrea looked around, looking slightly down. "Yeah. It's a shame," she said, looking back at him with blue eyes sparkling like the sky. "You know, if I get a million dollars, it's going there."

Kurama nodded at her charitable look. "I'd back you up, and the third world country tragedies."

Andrea turned her head down, feeling her cheeks get warmer by the second. "Stop, you making me blush here," she said.

Kurama laughed and looked across the street, where the theater stood. "There it is, across the street."

Andrea looked both ways and nodded, seeing the movie theater. "Yep. Come on, unless you're buying it all."

Kurama blinked. "No way!" he said, starting to walk across the street, with Andrea alongside him. As she turned her head towards a noise, he did the same and saw a black car heading for them, which made him frown slightly. "Haven't seen a black car in a while."

"Then why is it headed here?" she asked, although at the moment, her legs stopped moving, which scared her. "And why is it I can't move?"

Her conscious was trying to push her other half into moving out of the way. "Move it! Get your rear in gear!"

"I can't... it's like I'm stuck!"

Kurama had reached the other side and looked beside him. He blinked, not seeing Andrea next to him. "Andrea?" He looked around and his eyes widened in shock; she was still in the middle of the road, frozen!

As the car sped towards her, Andrea's consciousness kept trying to shove her out of the way. "Move it!"

Andrea was still in a shock. She wanted to move, but her legs wouldn't cooperate, and that frightened her more. "I can't! I can't move!" Her mental voice was screaming, frantic with what was going on… or rather, what was going to happen.

Kurama raced towards her through the thickening crowd, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. "Andrea, watch out!" he shouted, trying to snap her out of it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

(Will Kurama get to her in time? And who was behind the wheel to the black car? All next in "Trial of Halves.")

Author's Notes:

/1/ In Japan, you have to be 20 to drink. Unfortunately, they're not that old.

/2/ When Andrea screamed, Kurama was up and at 'em. Light sleeper, huh?

/3/ I don't own "X-Men," and Hugh and Halle are two really actors in the movie.

/4/ That's Storm's power in "X-Men."

Cece: One stunning cliffhanger for the masses.

Kurama: Wait… where's the popcorn?

Cece: Whoops. Anyway, review here, pretty please?