BACK WHEN WE FIRST MET written by HieiKitty

Written on October 16th, 2005

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Lonely No More

It was now well into the night and Yusuke, Kuwabara, Toga, and Kari were hanging out in the living room playing cards while listening to the radio. Genkai was also in the room but just watching while sipping some tea. Yukina walked into the room and handed everyone a glass of water or tea then looked over at Kari with concern. "Um, Kari, do you know where Rei is? I went to her bedroom to give her some tea to relax her but she wasn't in there when I went in."

Kari didn't even think this over and took a drink of her water. Once she had swallowed the liquid, she gave the koorime a reassuring smile and she waved Yukina's concern off. "Don't worry about it, Yukina. Rei doesn't even like tea anyways...wait...WHAT!"

"Now that you mentioned it, I never saw Kurama or Rei come back into the temple. I wonder where they are..." Kuwabara began to wonder. Just as Kari was about to stand, the door opened and Kurama walked in. He didn't say anything nor look at his friends in the room as he walked through the room then into another. The room was silent for a moment before Kari stood up abruptly and stomped off after Kurama. She found him inside the room where Rei was staying. He was packing up all of Rei's things into a bag. Kari glared at him from her spot on the door. "What the hell are you doing? And where the hell is my sister?"

"You should probably pack as well." Kuram told her, unaffected by her outburst. Kair watched as he continued to pack up her sister's things. Finally, she was fed up with the red haired kitsune and stomped over, grabbing a hold of his shoulder then swung him around. Kari grabbed a hold of the collar of his shirt and stared at him right in the eyes. "WHERE THE HELL IS MY SISTER, YOU BASTARD!"

Kurama stared back at her and she instantly knew that he was angered by something. The red head grabbed a hold of her hand and forcefully made her let go of him. When she did, he let go of her hand then gave her an explanation. "After you went back inside the temple, Rei wanted me to take her back to the apartment you guys are staying at. I agreed and that's where she is now. I offered to come get her things and that's where we are now."

"So, you just left her at the apartment? Are you a complete idiot? What if someone tries to attack her? She's already emotionally stressed!" Kari yelled at him. Kurama glared back at her and was starting to show some of the emotions that he was trying to keep inside himself. "I already know about her stress! She's told me herself! I don't need someone who can barely hit the tip of the iceburg telling me! I'm not an idiot either. I set up protective plants around the apartment to keep her safe. Why would I let the person I care about be attacked?"

Kari didn't say anything and she didn't think she could have said anything to him. He wasn't thinking for himself but for her sister instead. Kurama went back to packing up Rei's things. When he was done, he turned back to Kari and shot her a look. "I'll stay with her tonight but I think she would appreciate it if she had her sister there for her tomorrow. After all, we still have school tomorrow and that's another thing she'll have to deal with."

Kurama then left the room, without waiting for anything that Kari could have said to him. He walked back into the living room where he gave everybody a small explanation and left, once again without waiting for anyone to say anything. Once he was outside of the temple, he immediately transformed into Youko who took off towards the Takashi apartment, using his demonic speed to shorten the time of arrival. The kitsune quickly arrived at the apartment and stopped at the door. Youko unwillingly turned back into his red head counterpart who promptley searched his pockets for the apartment key. He ended up not needing it when the door opened to show Rei standing there. "Hi."

"Rei, I thought I told you not to open the door for anything." Kurama said with concern as she let him into the apartment then closed the door behind him, locking it. She looked at him and slightly shrugged. "Well, I just felt like it was you who was standing at the door, you know? It wasn't like I felt it was someone I trusted, it was you in particular. I guess my demonic senses are getting better. That's a good thing, right? Anyways, is Kari coming?"

"She was already asleep when I got there but I left her a note so she should be coming back here tomorrow. Yusuke will probably help her get her things back over here." Kurama lied to the kitsune hanyou as he handed her one of the bags full of her things. The other things, he walked to her room and placed them in there himself. Rei followed him and put the one bag on the floor beside her bed. "Oh, well, I guess I can't always expect Kari to be awake when I want to talk to her."

Kurama wanted to say something right then but he didn't know how and what to say or if Rei would appreciate it. It seemed that she really did care about what her sister thought and really cared for her. A sigh escaped Kurama and he turned to leave the room. He didin't take a step towards the exit though but spoke to Rei. "You should get some sleep. I'll stay up in the living room just to make sure that nothing happens. Tell me if you get any weird feelings or think something's wrong."

Kurama began to walk out of the room but was soon stopped when arms wrapped around his waist and a face was rested against the middle of his back. He felt her nuzzle against his shirt and then take a deep breath. Kurama just wanted to spin around and take her into his own arms but didn't. Rei then spoke up. "Kurama, I really appreciate everything you've done for me. I really do. I know this is going to sound really selfish of me but please don't leave me alone. I don't want to be alone anymore."

A small sob escaped from her and he knew that she had started crying. Kurama gently pried her arms off of him and just as Rei thought he was going to refuse her, the red head turned around and wrapped his own arms around her. He rested his head on top of hers. "Let me call my mother to tell her that I'm staying here. I'll be right back. Don't worry, Rei. You'll never be alone again."

Rei sniffled and gave a slight nod. It took a moment before Kurama was able to force himself to let go of her. He gave her a small reassuring smile before leaving the room to go use the phone in the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, he turned on the light to see their cat rush out of the room. Apparently for the past three days (?) while Kari and Rei were staying at Genkai's temple, the cat had been here, surviving on the things it could get its paws on. Surprisingly, the kitchen was clean though with the twin's habits he would have thought it would have been messy. Kurama walked over to the phone and called his mother.

"Moshi moshi. Minamino Residence, Shiori speaking."

"Hello, Mother. It's Shuichi."

"Oh, hello, Shuichi, dear. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I was just calling to tell you that I will be staying at a friend's house tonight. You don't need to worry. I'll probably come home tomorrow morning to change for school."

"Oh, that's fine. I'm sure that you'll do what's best. Tell Reina that I said hello."

"H-how'd you know?"

"Mother's intuitition, dear. Reina's a really nice girl and is perfect for you. For what I can tell, she's sensetive and needs the attention of people she cares about. I'm sure she needs you now so I should let you go. Take care."

"Good bye, Mother. Take care."

Kurama replaced the phone back onto the hook with a small smile. He stood there for a while, appreciating his human mother before walking back to Rei's room, after turning off the kitchen light. A small smile crossed the kitsune's face when he walked into Rei's room and saw her. The kitsune hanyou was sitting on her bed, leaning her back against the wall, fast asleep. Kurama closed her bedroom door and turned off the bedroom light. He crossed the room and sat down on the bed, only leaning against the pillows at the head of the bed. The kitsune reached over and brought Rei over beside him.

Rei unconsciously snuggled up against his chest and sighed contently. Kurama's gaze soften as he wrapped his arms around him. In his mind, he knew that this is what he wanted once he realized his feelings for Rei but he also knew it was wrong. It felt like he was taking advantage of the situation. Rei was in pain and he was taking advantage of it. But this thought also got him raging. He couldn't believe what the demon had placed in Rei's head. He couldn't exactly tell her if it was true or not but he could guess. His guess would be that she was right.

Kurama was brought out of his thoughts when he felt Rei nuzzle her nose against him and another content sigh came from her. His small smile reppeared on his face as he looked down at her. Even at this moment, Youko kind of felt at peace. One of his hands came up and push a strand of hair away from her face. A yawn escaped Kurama and he felt his eyelids getting heavier. As his eyes closed and he fell asleep, he knew that things were going to change. But was it for the best or for the worst? Hopefully, it was for the best.

End of Chapter Thirty-Seven

HieiKitty: It was a short chapter but I thought it was cute and plus it's essential. It's setting up some things for future chapters.

Youko: Ha, take that Hiei! No more Onna for you! She's all mine now! MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!

HieiKitty and Hiei: -.-

Kuronue: Please review!