Nighttime Confessions

By: Cece Williams

((Disclaimer: Never owned YYH, and I never will.))

Yusuke: So, why is this chapter named that?

Cece: You'll see… Oh! I forgot to mention that this chapter's going to be a little longer than usual.

Kurama: I don't think they mind.

Cece: I would. Read on.

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It had only been a week and Andrea was sitting on the couch, wearing a deep blue nightgown to the floor, reading one of her books that she had taken with her. She wasn't 100 yet, but she was getting there. With Kurama around, it was a little more demanding to explain what she meant when she came to.

Kurama walked in the living room, carrying a bowl of popcorn and set it down on the coffee table. "I thought you would be hungry."

Andrea nearly jumped out of her skin and looked at him, her eyes widened slightly. "Kurama! Didn't your mother ever teach you never to sneak up on people?" she asked him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were so deep into the story."

Eyes relaxing, Andrea nodded, looking back at the book. "Deep enough," she answered. "Echo and Narcissus were so sad." /1/

"I'm sure it was," Kurama replied, remembering the sad tale from class. "If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask. Mother will be back late, and Shuichi is at a sleep over with a friend."

Continuing to hold her book in one hand, Andrea held a hand around her throat with the other. "I thought I'd get over being all jumpy again."

"It'll take a while," the redhead answered, sitting down next to her. "Remember when Karasu snuck up behind us?"

Andrea raised an eyebrow. "You mean queer vampire guy?"

Kurama chuckled. "Yes, him," he answered.

"Don't get me remembering him. He made Suzuka look like a girl."

Kurama knew she didn't like putting "the beautiful" before Sazuka's name; she didn't think it was important. "Well, I was tense for a week after that," he answered her as Andrea set the book she was reading down and stood to her feet.

"Reminds me of that time with the mouse trap."

Kurama blinked, confused. "It does?"

"Especially that one attached to your foot." Seeing Kurama place a hand on his head, Andrea giggled. They both needed to loosen up after what had happened. "Embarrassing you, aren't I?"

"Extremely."

Andrea blinked a couple of times and pouted her lips at him. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right. It's good to rewind."

"Speaking of rewinding..." Andrea pointed to the TV, where a movie was playing backwards after it had been apparently over.

Kurama looked at the tape and blinked. "I didn't know that was there."

"It's funnier watching it backwards..." She stopped when she heard some rumbling.

Kurama looked out a window. "Looks like a storm," he said and wanted to marvel and laugh at Andrea's speed. She had grabbed the remote and turned off the TV in a matter of a minute. "I need to call Mother and tell her."

Setting the remote down, Andrea nodded. "Sure." She then walked down the hall as Kurama decided to give a quick call to his mother before the storm got any worse.

The voice on the other end was nearly crystal clear as Shiori answered. "Hello?"

Kurama looked at Andrea, who had now sat down on the stairs as his mother answered. "Mother, it's Shuichi."

"Oh, hello dear. Is everything all right at home?"

"Everything's fine," he answered, looking back as Andrea looked at the ceiling. "Andrea's still a little jumpy. Must be hard on her."

"I believe so, especially with her just getting out of the hospital…" Shiori stopped as she heard some rumbling in the distance.

"I called to tell you there is a thunderstorm in the area. I hope you'll be careful while driving."

"Thank you, dear. Well, I need to get off now. I love you."

"You too, Mother. I'll see you when you get home."

"All right, dear. Good night."

"Good night." With that, Kurama hung up at the same time as Andrea headed back in the living room.

"Everything okay?" she asked him.

Kurama looked at her and nodded. "Everything is fine."

Andrea took a deep breath and let it out in relief. "Well, maybe it won't be so..."

"So what?"

Almost as if on cue, the lights went out all of a sudden. "... Bad."

Kurama went to the nearby desk and took out two flashlights. ""Wait here while I check the fuse box, okay?" he asked her.

Andrea nodded her head. "Okay."

Kurama handed her one of the flashlights. "Just yell if you need me." With that, he went down into the basement.

Andrea turned on the flashlight and walked around, the steady beam of light the only thing lit in the house. She walked around a little, trying to stay calm. The night that her ex-boyfriend attacked her was coming back to her. "Okay, just stay calm... it's only a small storm..."

Meanwhile, in the basement, Kurama was trying to fox the fuse box when he heard a crash of thunder, a scream and two separate thuds. He turned his head to the side, blinking his eyes. "Andrea? Are you all right up there?" he asked, closing the fuse box and started towards the stairs, where he heard a strange noise across the floor.

As he headed up the stairs, he heard rumbling from the thunder, but as he headed upstairs, saying Andrea's name, something tapped him on the foot. Reaching down, he looked at the object, worry starting to return to him.

It's Andrea's flashlight.

And she's not dumb enough to walk outside during a storm...

Of course not, the kitsune thought, but as he went into the living room, he found a horrific surprise. Andrea had collapsed to the floor, almost as if she had fainted from something. As the lightning flashed, he noticed that her eyes were still open. "Andrea?" he said, looking at the girl, who only looked in front of her in a daze, it seemed.

She couldn't explain why she was on the floor or why she couldn't respond to Kurama's repeated usage of her name. It was almost as if she couldn't move, save for Kurama shaking her lightly, trying to get her to come out of it. Shaking, her eyes slightly rolled back in her head. "Don't leave me," she whispered quietly yet fearfully.

"I'm not going anywhere," he answered her, and as she whimpered incoherently, he left for a second and looked outside, emerald eyes narrowing. "There's nothing outside, and the Alarm Plants didn't go off." When he went back to her, Andrea had already started moving her eyes from side to side. "No one's outside."

Andrea, almost as quickly as she had collapsed, sat up on the floor and hugged her knees close to her chest. What was the matter with her? She had never been this scared of anything… if it were anything to begin with. "It was almost like that night," she said, remembering her attack as if it were yesterday…

A night Kurama remembered all too well. He wasn't going to let the same thing happen for no reason, not if he could help it. "It isn't the same," he said calmly to her. "I'm here."

Just hearing his voice made her crack. She leaned against him, shuddering as she buried her head in his shoulder while Kurama wrapped his arms around her. "When is it all gonna go away?" Her voice rose with a deep fear.

"I don't know." And Kurama really didn't know. There was no telling how long Jason would stay in jail this time. No telling how long it would be until he would try again.

"I bet Yusuke's laughing this up, wouldn't he, if he were here?"

"Most likely," Kurama answered. It usually took a lot to turn Andrea into the whimpering person she was on the floor, but now it seemed she was getting more anxious by the minute.

And she wasn't the type of person who would get scared easily. Now, to Andrea, it sounded like a horror movie than it was real life. She was now getting scared of a thunderstorm? "You know, I've never admitted this before but..." She stopped as she felt Kurama's hand stroking her hair and a hiccup from her about to come out. "But I'm really scared."

Oh, and this is the woman you're in love with? Youko thought.

Oh, be quiet!

After the hiccup came out, she broke away from him and stood up. Part of Andrea told her that it was natural like the doctors had said would happen, but the other half thought that she was being too much trouble for him. And that meant one solution… "You might not want to be near me, so I guess I'll go and pack."

The announcement shocked the kitsune. Didn't want to be near her? It was about the only thing he could do to keep her safe, but when he looked at Andrea, he blinked. "What? What are you saying?"

Andrea looked at the floor, clenching her hands into fists, trying to keep whatever she was going to feel inside her. "I'm too much of a burden on you."

"No, you're not."

The inward struggle over her emotions was still raging, but she tried to hold on to what composure she had left. "I know I am."

Kurama wasn't really sure whether to go to her or stand still. "Andrea, you're my friend; you are not a burden."

What happened to the "girlfriend" bit?

You put that in! Not me!

When he saw her turn around slowly, still looking at the floor, he knew the battle was only starting. "Andrea, I know I've never told you this but..." He felt like kicking himself for what he was about to say, but she needed to hear it. "I'm sorry."

Andrea blinked, not really understanding why he said that? Why? "For what?"

The night that she had been placed in a coma came back to him just as the lightning flashed again. "For getting you hurt. It was mostly my fault. I should have been there."

The only question that circled Andrea's mind as she looked up was, why is he blaming himself for something like that? "It's not your fault," she answered, her blue eyes shimmering with the tears she had wanted to keep inside. "It never was."

"I should have known he would be there. He was just waiting for the right time."

Andrea sniffled. "I've hated myself for what happened after Karasu..." When she saw Kurama look up at her, she wished she could have just shut up but didn't. "I did the one thing I never wanted to do."

Kurama looked confused. She wasn't talking about what had happened when she was taken to the hospital. There was only one other time she could be talking about.

"I blamed you for what had happened, and I regretted that, but I'm not making that mistake again."

Kurama didn't know whether to flat-out ask her what she meant or to let her tell him. He decided on the former. "You... what?"

"For not telling me that Karasu was the one attacking me. But I'm not letting you take all the blame for something that I myself could have prevented."

She was taking the blame onto herself? He couldn't understand. "But it was my fault."

Andrea shook her head. "No, it wasn't; it was my fault. I should have known that he knew where I lived."

Kurama chuckled, although the pain with Andrea was already cutting him like a knife. "Let's just say it was both of our faults and help me fix the fuse box?" He looked at Andrea, who smiled, although when she closed her eyes, a few tears fell, which he wiped them away. "Well? What do you say?"

Andrea blinked, knowing it would take a little while for her to regain her lost composure. "As long as I'm not alone."

"I promise. You won't be alone in this house."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "That was my mistake."

Kurama took her by the hand, despite what would happen if anyone had seen him do that. "Let's go," he said, handing her the flashlight.

"Just do me one big favor."

He looked down to the girl beside him. "Yes?"

Andrea looked up at him and smiled. "If you go off and blame yourself again, I'm going to hit you so hard that there'll be three sets of cheeks."

"I'll remember that," Kurama answered, as he, with Andrea's flashlight that she had dropped, started down the stairs to the basement with Andrea very close behind.

Not much to Andrea's surprise, the basement wasn't even cluttered, save for Christmas items and things of the like. She was still a little shaky when the thunder rumbled, but as long as he was there in the same room with her, it didn't really matter. She watched as the kitsune tried to get the power back on but failed. When he turned to look at her, she blinked. "So, what's the score?" she asked him.

"I have a suspicion that the storm's knocked the power out for the night," he answered. He noticed Andrea tense up lightly. "Don't worry; the darkness doesn't hurt anyone."

"So, um, what are we supposed to do?"

Kurama shone his flashlight to the stairs. "Well, let's head back upstairs and take it from there," he answered, leading Andrea back up the stairs and closing the door behind them. He noticed Andrea swaying slightly; he knew she was either tired or dizzy from what happened. "Why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep?"

Andrea looked at him, blinking her ocean eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Of course," he answered, patting her on the shoulder. "I'll stay down here for a little while longer. You could use another few extra hours of rest; you're still recovering."

"All right," she replied, starting up the stairs to the guest room she was staying in, which, coincidentally, was across the hall from Kurama's own bedroom. When she reached the top of the stairs, lightning flashed again, illuminating the house for a second. She then walked into the room she was staying in and sat down on the bed. Moving her flashlight around, she saw a tea light lamp and lit it with a match in her purse. After she took a deep breath, she lay down on the bed. "I hope tonight's really over," she said to herself as her eyes closed.

Meanwhile, Kurama looked in the kitchen and found some candles, knowing all too well from, just recently, Andrea's fear of lightning. Of course, the fear was understandable; she was attacked during one and nearly died. He knew it would be another month or so before Andrea was Andrea again. Lighting the candle with a match, he blew out the match and set the flashlight on the desk so his mother would have something to see around the house with. He then took the candle and walked up the stairs just as the thunder clapped outside.

The kitsune walked down to the room Andrea was staying in and peered inside. She had already fallen asleep on her bed, her body nearing of falling off the bed. He walked in, set the candle on the dresser, and put a blanket over her after making sure she was at the center of the bed, where she wouldn't fall off. After sitting on her bed for a minute and her not waking up, he got up and walked to the door. "Good night," he said softly before he took his candle and went to his own room.

Once inside he changed into a pair of PJs and climbed into bed, sleep trying to claim him, but there were so many thoughts racing through his mind. It had been nearly three years since he had met her, and yet he wasn't sure of what to say to her. I suppose I'll tell her when I believe I'm ready, he thought as he finally went to sleep.

The night went by very slowly, as if everything were in slow motion. A few hours after Kurama had fallen asleep, he felt himself tossing on the mattress, fighting an image in his mind of a battle that had been since completed. "Coward," he mumbled, gripping the same blanket that covered him. It was obvious; Kurama was having a nightmare.

Back in the guest room, Andrea opened her eyes and looked around in the dark room. The tea light candle in the lamp had gone out. She sat up in the bed, blinking as she pulled a blanket off of her. How long was I asleep? She got out of the bed and walked to the bedroom door and peered out. "It's still kind of dark," she whispered to herself as she walked into the hallway but stopped when she heard a mumbling noise and peered in a door.

There she saw Kurama breathing heavily as he was sitting up in his bed. She tapped on the door and blinked. "Kurama?"

The redhead looked at the doorway and knew who it was, though it surprised him. "Andrea," he said as her eyes looked around. "Don't worry, no one else is here." With that, he saw her silhouette walk in and stand at the end of his bed. "Why are you up? You should he asleep."

"Can't sleep," she answered. "And neither could you, since you're up." She looked at the fox as he took a deep breath. "You look like hell, and I'm not meaning that lightly. What's wrong?"

Kurama looked at her through the darkness of the night as she sat on the edge of the bed. Why was she up this early? It had to be something else. "Just a bad memory," he finally answered.

"You know that's the same line you used on me with Karasu," Andrea answered as she crossed her arms across her chest. /2/ "It's something more than that, isn't it?"

Kurama could only watch as Andrea moved a little closer to him; now that the sky had cleared from the storm a few hours ago, the moon that had been hiding filtered into the room and lit up her blue eyes like a few of the stars that were out. The look in her eyes couldn't make him hide anymore. "Would you believe me if it was Karasu from a few months ago?"

Andrea nodded. "I'd believe it," she answered. "I'll even believe if it was Koenma in a tutu… wait… that's freaky."

Kurama chuckled, feeling the nightmare slide off of him as if a dream catcher were hung in the room although he had to tell her. "I suppose I should tell you what it was about," he said, getting Andrea's complete attention. "Karasu and I were standing in an open field and we were about to fight when he pulled you from behind him and used you as a shield. I knew he was a coward, but he told me that if I didn't fight him, he'd kill you."

Andrea swallowed a possible lump in her throat and took a deep breath. "So, what'd you do?" she asked him.

"I fought him, of course," he answered, "but as I was planning my last attack on him, I heard you scream." He watched as she moved a little more closer to him. "When I turned my head, you were on the ground… with my weapon around your neck."

"It was probably one of his tricks, okay?" she said as she pulled her hands up to the redhead's face and looked into his eyes. "Look at me, Kurama. We both know Karasu's dead and in hell, and he's trying to torture you through your mind."

But what she said next stunned Kurama more than anything he ever felt when he was fighting.

"I won't let that happen." She noticed his emerald eyes widened, but she felt her own ocean eyes tear up. "There's no way you can do it alone; it's almost like when I was in a coma. Sure I had the strength to come back, but the will had to be there…" The tears fell once again down her face.

Kurama noticed she was within arms reach of him, so he wrapped his arms around her and held her crying form. He never meant to upset her again, but that was all he did, which was about to change. "Come on, it's all right now," he said gently. "It's all over and done with."

But when Andrea lifted her head, this time, she was in for a big surprise.

"There was something I wanted to tell you back at the hospital, but everyone was going in and out so I couldn't say anything." When Andrea sat straight up, Kurama held her shoulders lightly and took a deep breath. It was now or never; whether she believed it, accepted it, or denied it was all up to her. "All of this time, I've been hiding it deep inside me…" But the more he wanted to tell her, the more nervous he became.

But why was he nervous? He was Youko Kurama, a fox demon who could make anyone fall in love with him, but somehow with Andrea, it was different. She had been attacked, almost run over, and almost died; yet she stayed next to him.

"Hiding what?" she asked him, blinking her ocean eyes in confusion.

Kurama looked at her calmly. There was no other way around it, except to tell her the truth… and pray to Inari that she didn't walk away. "Andrea, I know I haven't been able to tell you this before now, but… " He took another deep breath. "Do you remember when we were at your apartment right after you were released?"

"When I thought you said something but you didn't?"

"I did." When Andrea looked up at him, he finally said it. "I've fallen for a girl with shoulder-length hair who just happens to be in the same room with me."

Andrea looked around the room, finding only her and him alone. Before she had any time to fully react, she felt a pair of lips against her own, making her eyes widen. She started to wonder if she closed her eyes and opened them again, it would all be a dream, but as she opened them again, it wasn't a dream at all; it was reality. She broke away after another few seconds, stunned. "That's what you were going to say all along?"

When Kurama nodded, he got a response he never expected. He fell backwards back on the bed they were sitting on, with the tables turned. She was now laying on top of him, their lips connected to the other. After a minute they broke apart again, but he was in for an even bigger surprise. Andrea had now fallen asleep right next to him, her arm around his waist. Well, I better not disturb her tonight, he thought to himself as he went to sleep as well.

At eight in the morning, a knock came to his bedroom door, making an emerald eye open.

"Shuichi?" The owner of the voice walked in and looked in surprise at how the two young people were in bed. Her son was under the blankets while Andrea had merely an afghan over her.

That was when Kurama nearly sat up in bed; now he was fully awake. Oh, no, he thought to himself. Now she's seen where Andrea's been all night. "It isn't what it looks like, Mother," he explained in a whisper as he got out of bed while untangling Andrea's arm from around him. He pulled the half of the blankets back over Andrea as he walked to the door. "She had a nightmare last night and she was a little afraid to be alone."

"Oh," she answered as she peered around her son and looked at the sleeping woman on the bed. "Did it have anything to do with her being in the hospital?"

"I believe so," Kurama answered, ushering his mother out and closing the door behind them. "There is something to tell you, Mother."

"Of course, dear," Shiori answered as her son went to lean against a wall.

"Last night, Andrea and I have gotten a little closer than expected," he replied, and then took a breath. It was time to let out the truth. "She's my girlfriend."

Shiori didn't really know what to say. Her son was usually very secretive around girls his age, but he had spent a deal of time with Andrea. And since she was sleeping in his bed, which just proved that they were getting a little closer together. "I'm happy for you, Shuichi." When Kurama blinked at her, she nodded but then looked at her watch. "Oh, I have to head to work; your step-father's already left."

"All right," he answered. "I love you." After his mother had gone down the stairs, he walked back into his room and found that Andrea was still asleep. The doctor did tell her if she was tired to let her rest, he thought. It'll probably do her some good. He sat down at his desk and continued to watch her. He picked up a book from his desk and started to read… until the doorbell rang.

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Author's Notes:

/1/ The story of Narcissus and Echo: Basically, Narcissus promised Echo he'd marry her if she'd grant him his wish to see himself. When Echo did it, though, he backed out of the promise and became a flower. Echo faded until all that was left was her voice.

/2/ From the second part "The Trials of Life," chapter called "Nightmarish Reality."

Cece: Sorry for the cliffy, but I'm getting started on the next chapter right now. Review here.