Tension High
Stage Two
This story is written first person Keiko.
Okay, it has been six days since the whole notebook fiasco thing ran it's odd little course.
I was... okay with that.
Yes.
Kurama and I have not really been seeing much of each other.
Everyday at school did not count.
Okay, maybe it counted a little.
Yesterday, during the lunch period he caught my eye across the hall and well, there was something about the look on his face that wasn't... well... Okay, let's not get into that.
Well, Kurama and I have been avoiding each other. Or, me avoiding him as the situation goes.
But Yusuke, good old Yusuke, he's hounding me more than ever and the Kurama butt jokes are only getting worse. In fact, he doesn't call Kurama, "Kurama" anymore.
No, Kurama has become "Kurbutt", "Buttsalot", or "Starbutt". When Yusuke was ripping off names like that yesterday on the way home from school an old lady by a street corner caught my eye and gave me a nasty look.
I couldn't shut him up.
Finally, I had to kick him in the shin and... well, that didn't work either.
I figured things had reached their most weird, worst possible rung on the ladder of life.
They tell you that you should never say that for a reason.
When I arrived at school that morning I found a velvet pouch on my desk. Beautiful, deep purple velvet with a gold cord tied around the top. It was gorgeous, almost looked like an old fashioned change purse or something.
Anyway...
I open up the pouch and inside there's not a handful of candy, or a little trinket, or even a pack of marbles.
No...
Its chocked full of these little, flat green things. I had no idea what I was looking at. They were tear shaped and green with tiny white spikes around the edges and little red patches along the centers on both sides.
I'd never seen it before, so I wasn't about to eat it. One of my classmates, his name was Hiroyashi, took a couple and popped them into his mouth and started chewing.
He spent the next twenty minutes vomiting in the nurse's office.
I wasn't exactly charmed with my apparent gift.
Suspect number one: Kurama.
Now, I know I said Kurama was gorgeous and a perfect gentleman but... Well, let's just say he's not exactly what I thought he was.
That or I am seriously paranoid.
Since the last notebook day, he's been watching me. I swear he follows me home and I thought I even saw him spying in my bedroom window once.
Yes, go ahead, tell me I'm crazy.
I tucked the things in my desk.
They reminded me of strangely shaped poker chips, they were just as hard. Plastic-like. Or buttons without holes.
So, again, suspect number one: Kurama.
Plan of action: confront him immediately after school.
As I stood, watching torrents of rain drench the courtyard I realized something. Well, I didn't realize it as much as it was plainly obvious.
Operation: Confront Kurama was a failure.
My cute red-haired stalker was nowhere to be found and the school was practically deserted except for those, like me, who were waiting to see if the sudden rain would let up.
The whole day was a serious bust. I couldn't find Kurama, I get a weird "gift" on my desk… I would've preferred roses or something. Yusuke doesn't show, but then I'd been hoping if he had, that he would've brought an umbrella.
It didn't matter, he didn't show up. Not that I was expecting him, okay I was expecting him, but I've learned to live with disappointment.
My romantic hopes for Yusuke had died a long time ago. I'd rather swallow a truck than to go back to him. Yusuke's a great guy, just… I think I might have outgrown him a little. Or … a lot.
I turned away from the window and headed for my locker to gather my things. My classroom was empty.
In the hall, one of the remaining teachers stopped me and urged me to get home before the weather turned. It was supposed to storm all night.
Fantastic.
I grabbed my books, got on my shoes and headed out into the downpour. With my luck, the second I arrived on my doorstep the rain would stop, or at least let up a little.
The pouch I had grabbed from my desk was in my bag pocket waiting... Waiting for something, I didn't know what.
I ran, not walked, home. Water splashed up my legs as I went, wetting the insides of my shoes. My feet slid in them as I ran making me unsteady. When I got home, a few short minutes later, I was already soaked through. It was like the effort of running had been wasted.
As I got to my front door I reached to get my key from my bag, but my eye caught something.
Something red.
In a puddle of water by the step, floating on top of the water were 4 of the green odd "beads" from the pouch I'd gotten at school.
I stared at them, hardly registering the rain anymore.
I looked around.
There were more, scattered all over the yard. Not a lot, not in piles or anything. Just enough for me to see the little red spots scattered on certain parts of the lawn.
Maybe...
Maybe it wasn't Kurama?
Had someone planted a new tree and they were just blowing around the neighborhood and the pouch on the desk hadn't been a gift...? Maybe something someone simply forgot?
No...
That seemed too unbelievable.
But...
Who would spread weird green things over my yard?
I made a sour face.
Who would record weird scenarios in a notebook and watch me all the time? I opened the door and went up to my room dripping water.
I wonder what Kurama would think if I took the photo Yusuke gave me up to him and asked him for his autograph.
Would I be as nuts as I think he is?
Maybe.
Maybe it wasn't fair to call him nuts because I was being paranoid.
I pulled off my soaking clothes and dried off and redressed. Consequently, there were no more entries in the blue notebook, so that night I found Kurama's number, that was it. There wasn't anything else.
Not that I wanted there to be more or anything.
I sighed and moved toward my school bag. I had homework, no more non-school thinking.
The next morning when my eyes fluttered open dawn greeted me with a splitting head ache.
My entire head hurt.
My eyes were aching and felt heavy and my temples throbbed. I pulled back my blankets and stood up. I couldn't miss school because of a headache, I'd grab some breakfast and …whoa.
My feet touched the little area carpet and no sooner had I gotten my butt off the bed; it was it was the floor. I crumpled like an empty sail. The noise I made must have alerted my mother because moments later she was knocking on my door.
"Keiko? Honey?"
"Mom..." I moaned weakly and she opened the door, all matronly concern.
Okay, that sounded sarcastic. I love my mother, truly. She's a great mom. I told her the problem and she determined I had a fever and promptly tucked me back into bed.
I wasn't really surprised, my throat had been aching the day before, I suspected I was getting sick and didn't want to acknowledge it.
If you pretend it isn't happening... well, then you're just deluding yourself.
I wanted to go to school. I was trying to push a vote through the student council on amending the design of the school uniform. So far there wasn't a whole lot of support because the students felt the officials wouldn't take us seriously.
That wasn't going to stop me from trying.
What was the point of student government if we couldn't change anything?
My eyes got heavier and I drifted off.
When I awoke, I wasn't alone.
In fact, my "guest" almost had me leaping out of the other side of the bed.
"Hello, Keiko."
"K-Kurama..." I gaped.
Kurama was in my room?
Had my mother let him in or did he crawl through my bedroom window?
"Your mother let me in. I brought your assignments for you."
Of course, good old Minamino Shuichi, model student, model friend.
Uh oh, there's that sarcasm again.
I had to stop that.
I also really liked Kurama, despite my little paranoid theories about him.
Yes, okay, I was a little bit off my rocker. I'm becoming more and more convinced of that.
"I left them on your desk for you."
I nodded.
"And I brought this..."
He drew my eyes to my bedside table where he picked up a plant. It was... a pink cactus with good one inch spikes on it.
I glanced up to meet his eyes as he replaced the plant. "It's not a Makai plant that will try to eat my fingers or anything, is it?"
He smiled softly. "No. It's just a normal desert cactus." He paused briefly. "Did you want one?"
"No!" I quickly replied.
That little smile returned.
He stared at me and his eyes were, well, normal. Their same old green color.
"So... How've you been?" I asked, searching desperately for something to say just so it wouldn't be silent.
"Good. When you didn't come to school today, I was alarmed. I know you value your attendance as much as I. Your teachers expressed their wishes for your speedy recovery."
I nodded.
Just then, the bedroom door swung open and in popped Yusuke.
"Yo, Keiko!"
He glanced at Kurama and then welcomed himself in, closing the door behind him. He waggled his eyebrows. "Am I interrupting?"
"No," I answered.
Kurama remained quiet where he sat at my bedside in my borrowed desk chair.
"Heard you were sick," Yusuke said. "Thought I'd come over, didn't know you had company."
I wasn't sure what to say to that.
Yusuke, without a chair, sat himself directly on the bed. "So, you and Starbutt just hanging out?"
Kurama turned his head and looked at Yusuke, a bemused expression on his face. "Are you referring to me as 'Starbutt'?"
"Yusuke!" I scolded, but it was too late.
He'd opened his mouth, hello disaster.
"Yeah. Keiko's a butt girl, likes a good ass on a man, right, Keiko?"
I was going to kill him.
"Get out of my room."
It wouldn't work, but I at least had to try kicking him out.
Yusuke just turned back to Kurama.
"And she like yours!" Yusuke declared with a big, mischievous grin on his face staring Kurama right in the face.
I threw my hands over my face.
Total mortification.
Kurama didn't say anything, so I peeked through my fingers at him. He was still sitting quite calmly, his legs still folded neatly.
"It's not polite to tease her so much, Yusuke."
Okay, now I wanted them both gone.
"You know," I said suddenly. "I'm kind of tired; maybe you could leave me alone for a while? I really appreciate you coming to see me, it was really sweet. Thank you for bringing my homework and the plant, Kurama."
He nodded. "Of course."
He stood and replaced the chair. Yusuke followed.
I wasn't sorry to see either of them leave.
Yusuke just told Kurama, Minamino Shuichi, that I liked to gawk at male butts and then he told him I liked to stare at his, Kurama's. I snuggled beneath my blankets.
Maybe tomorrow would be less humiliating.
I was not able to return to school the next day, but thankfully I received no visitors. Kurama dropped my assignments off with my mother downstairs.
When I did return to school I found my uniform-altering proposal had died and it was up to me to single-handedly revive it.
Well, not single-handedly.
There was Asuka, my very own fan clubber.
The girl was nice, I liked her. I'd done everything I could to help her adjust when she'd been transferred over, but she was kind of clinging to me in a way that left me gasping for air.
I left the club room that afternoon disappointed. My proposal still wasn't gaining much respect among my fellow members. They were convinced that even if we ran a school petition and got majority support from our fellow students, which in itself would be difficult, that the school officials would ignore the proposal entirely.
When I got home it was still daylight. My mother was home and in the kitchen cooking. She and my father were hosting a dinner party tonight. They were celebrating the expansion of their business. They had partnered up with another business owner and were moving into a bigger building and opening a gift shop next to it or in it, I don't know exactly.
Something I was told that was meant to draw the younger school age crowds. People my age.
I headed up to my room. No sooner had I gotten to the top of the stairs, the door swung open. I turned back.
Didn't even knock- I caught sight of Yusuke.
Of course he doesn't knock.
"What are you doing here?" I called down to him.
He turned and came up and what was he holding? Another cactus.
Uh oh.
Tonight I was gonna have a good look at that cactus Kurama had given me previously. Suspicious thoughts were brewing.
"What is that?"
Yusuke spared it a glance and shrugged. "Damned if I know, it's for you. I only agreed to bring it 'cause it was from Starbutt."
"You were talking to Kurama?" I asked.
He cast me a funny look and walked past me toward my bedroom.
"Yo, what's this? Some kind of weird new hobby?"
What?
I followed him inside.
My bed was covered in green beads. You know, the ones from the bag.
I am not kidding.
They were spread out in a strange circular formation. Something that most definitely was not by accident.
I glanced around and saw no one. I went over and actually peered under my desk and then under my bed and in my closet.
I was thinking the whole time what I would say if I caught Kurama in any of those places.
He wasn't, of course.
Because Kurama was probably normal and I was the one going insane.
"What's the cactus for?"
Yusuke shrugged. "He said it was to give you a matching set. I was coming over anyway, thought I'd bring it along."
"What were you talking to Kurama about?" I hoped it didn't sound weird.
I was fishing for information, yeah.
He picked up one of the beads and pressed it between his fingers.
It sounded like it cracked.
Ugh, I didn't want to deal with him.
Maybe he sensed my impatience. "Hey, let's catch a movie."
"A movie? Yusuke, I have to study."
"Starbutt will be there. He already agreed."
I gave him a withering look. "I'm not going just because you mentioned Kurama. I am not one of his fan girls, okay?"
He plopped down onto the bed, disturbing the little beads that bounced and then resettled, no where near their former positions.
"I told Kurama I was bringing him a date, everyone's got one and I already told him it was you."
"Yusuke!"
I couldn't know if he was lying or not, so I would just have to go. I wasn't about to be rude or anything.
"Get out of my room."
"Movie at 7," he chirped, moving for the door.
"Out!"
Twenty five minutes later, I got a phone call. Movie night at the theatre was canceled. Everyone would be coming over my house.
I, of course, told him that wasn't happening. My parents had company tonight.
So he changed his mind.
Movie night at his apartment.
Great.
When I told my mother she was enthusiastic that I go. I think she wanted me out of the house and for that, I was offended.
But I went all the same.
When I got to Yusuke's I could already hear the noise inside. I supposed Atsuko either wasn't home or she didn't care.
I knocked and the door was opened a few minutes later by Kuwabara.
"Hey, Keiko."
He held the door for me. He really was very gentlemanly. I thanked him and he smiled and headed back into the living room. I sort of followed after.
"Yo! Keiko!"
He was slumped on the sofa.
"I thought you weren't coming."
Now, did I tell him my mother all but tossed me out the door or no? He didn't give me a chance.
"I knew you wouldn't pass up a chance to have Starbutt all to yourself. He's not here yet."
"Starbutt? What on earth does that mean?"
That was Botan making herself known.
Yusuke shrugged. "Eh, Keiko's boyfriend."
Botan turned surprised eyes toward me. "Keiko, you have a boyfriend?"
"Yusuke, shut up!" I snapped. I looked toward Botan. "No, I don't have a boyfriend, he just will not leave me alone about - well let's forget about that."
"Forget about what?" Kuwabara asked as he came back into the room, a bag of snacks in his hands.
When had he left again?
Ugh.
I gave a frustrated sigh and turned back toward Yusuke. "Are we watching a movie or what?"
"We're waiting on Starbutt," he clarified.
"Starbutt?"
I looked up at the new voice.
Atsuko was here!
"Keiko's boyfriend," Yusuke replied to his mother.
The older, currently smoking woman grinned. "You call your boyfriend, Starbutt?"
"No, Yusuke does. He's not my boyfriend; Yusuke's just trying to be annoying. And if he doesn't shut up, I'm going to kill him."
Mother and son both grinned.
"She does like him," Yusuke noted.
"Clearly," Atsuko nodded.
"I am going home!" I declared suddenly. I was not going to do this, absolutely not.
I turned toward the door and stopped cold seeing the person suddenly between me and the precious, precious door. I had also conveniently forgotten my parents were having a dinner party and I wasn't exactly invited. So where was I going to go, alone, at this time of night?
"You're not leaving already, are you?"
Kurama.
Damn.
"Um..."
"Of course she's not leaving. Yusuke stop hogging the couch. Come sit down, Keiko."
Oh, good old Botan. I glanced at Yusuke and his grin and Atsuko and her grin and Botan and then at Kuwabara.
"You know... I think I'm going to grab a cup of coffee, flavored very strong coffee. I'll be back."
I swung back around toward the door and prepared myself to get past Kurama. He didn't stop me though, he did something worse.
"I'll go with you," he said.
I could've groaned.
The teasing would be fifteen times worse when I got back.
I didn't argue, I wanted to be somewhere else, he just followed.
For as many weird thoughts as I had when Kurama wasn't around, I wasn't having them now.
The sidewalk wasn't that busy as I reached it and the night was slightly chilly. He walked beside me in quiet for several feet before he said anything.
"Is Yusuke bothering you again?"
I scoffed at that. "Does he ever stop?"
I noticed his lips quirk in response to the comment.
I was suddenly uncomfortable noticing his lips. I mean, this was the guy who'd written about licking sweat off me. You do remember that, don't you?
While the licking part might not have bothered me, the sweat part was a little odd.
"Have you been feeling better?" he asked.
"Yes, much, thank you. Um... my cactuses are doing good."
"Do you like plants, Keiko?"
I shifted as we walked. "Well, I've had some trouble keeping them alive before. Cactus are easy though, aren't they?"
He nodded. "Relatively so, yes."
"The only thing I've kept alive is a lucky bamboo plant and that's because it only requires me to keep water in the pot. Although it's a little weird admitting that to you, you probably grow all sorts of things with ease."
"Everyone has their own unique talents," he answered diplomatically. "It was coffee you wanted, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, mostly I just wanted to get away from Yusuke."
There was a coffee shop ahead. Actually, it was a bakery. We entered and ended up sitting down with two cups of coffee and a set of pastries.
"Oh!" I suddenly exclaimed, remembering something.
I reached into my skirt pocket and withdrew one of the little green beads from before.
I laid it on the table top between us. "Do you know what this is?"
He glanced at it and then reached for it, picking it up, examining it in his palm.
"It looks like a seed."
"A seed? Are you kidding me? That thing is a seed?"
He nodded. "It appears so, yes. Where did you get it?"
He sounded so freaking innocent, how could I suspect him when he looked at me like that?
Ugh.
"I found it," I answered shortly. "A seed from what, exactly?"
He returned the seed to the table. "Well, a plant I imagine."
I looked up at him with a scowl. "That's not what I meant."
"It looks like a Juppa seed."
"A Juppa seed? What's a Juppa?" I was suddenly feeling the little pangs of suspicion again.
"It's a hybrid plant. Sort of a vine like flower, it's large and purple when it blooms."
"Oh..." I reached for the seed and held it in my hands. "A class mate of mine tried to eat them; he'll be okay, won't he?"
Kurama paused at that. "Did he swallow it?"
"I ... maybe."
Honestly, I didn't know if he swallowed it or not. With the look on Kurama's face, I seriously hoped not.
"If he did I imagine he's in the hospital about now. That's unfortunate, the Juppa is very poisonous."
I felt horrible knowing that!
I felt semi-responsible my idiot classmate had eaten something off my desk that might kill him.
Ugh.
Why me?
Why?
"If... If I plant it, will it grow? I think the Juppa sounds like a very pretty plant."
He smiled and I tensed. It was not a normal smile. It was an 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' smile and it had that 'you-don't-know-what-you're-getting-into' feel to it.
"You could try. It might grow. I believe the Juppa needs very humid conditions to germinate."
"Oh." I was rather disappointed. "I'll try anyway."
"Well, just in case it does germinate, I feel compelled to warn you. The Juppa plant gets big."
"How big?"
"Oh... maybe one, two feet across at the base. Very large. It's a very rare plant; I'm quite surprised you have come across such a seed. They are most difficult to locate."
"Really?'
He nodded.
"Well... Do you want it? They sort of just keep popping up. It's not like I don't have enough of them or anything."
He shook his head. "No, that's fine. I really don't have space for anymore plants, but thank you for the kind offer."
I sighed.
"If you hadn't told me they were rare I would've thought maybe it was just someone's idea of a joke, but... They just keep popping up. First on my desk and in my yard and now on my bed... Ugh. Where are they coming from?"
Kurama paused and looked contemplative. He almost looked worried.
"A lot of them? Truly?"
I nodded. "Really! I must have at least a couple handfuls of the things."
"Where are you keeping them?"
Now that was an odd question, but Kurama was the plant expert so I let it go.
"Um...in an old shoebox."
"In the light or in the dark?"
Now I was not happy with him. I made a sour face. "You just told me they couldn't germinate without humidity."
"So I did," he acknowledged. "Has anything strange been happening about your house?"
Now, I was uneasy. Why'd he have to ask? Especially like that, with that serious, worried tone?
"Like what?"
"I don't know anything unfamiliar. Strange smells or weird vegetation in the yard?"
"No. Why?"
If he didn't answer that I was going to -
"Well, Keiko, I don't wish to alarm you."
Oh, great, just what I wanted to hear.
"But the Juppa plant only grows in the Makai."
My mouth must've been hanging open. Only grows in the Makai?
Only?
Exclusively?
So, some otherworldly presence was dropping these things all around me? Little, nobody that I am?
Ugh.
Impossible.
Maybe he was wrong?
But who could know plants better than Kurama?
I mean, Kurama was a what? A several hundred year old fox? A fox, for goodness sake!
They practically live in plants!
"Are you sure?" I asked lamely.
He sipped his coffee.
"Quite certain. The Juppa is bulbous above ground. It gets about 4 feet tall with a large purple head that opens up. It's non-fragrant. It's carnivorous."
"Carnivorous? What's it eat? Flies? Little bunnies? Pretty little human girls?"
He smiled again. "It doesn't distinguish between male and female."
"Oh... Great... a non-sexist plant." I sat forward. "Tell me, you aren't telling me that the seed I had in my pocket and on my bed and in my yard and on my desk grows into a plant that eats humans. Don't tell me that."
"You do wish me to be honest, do you not?"
"Kurama!"
He shook his head. "There are few humans in the Makai. The Juppa mostly eats youkai. But it most certainly will eat humans given the opportunity."
"Is this some grand youkai scheme to eat me? Really? Am I being targeted by some whacko nut or is this just a youkai world domination scheme one innocent household at a time and I had the one in a billion chance of being picked!"
"Please calm down, Keiko. I'm sure it's not that serious."
"Can you not be so calm about this please?"
"I think you're over-reacting. Any kind of youkai that decides to infest your residence with seeds of the Juppa that cannot germinate here isn't going to get very far and if he was planning on doing anything major, I'm certain he wouldn't have relied upon a stationary plant. The Juppa, unlike some other youkai species, cannot move once rooted."
"I'm not worried about it rooting! I'm worried about it germinating! And I asked you if I could try to grow it and you actually said I should!"
"But that's quite all right, Keiko. I knew it wouldn't grow."
I growled at him.
"Do you know how many of those things are in my room? I could be eaten alive while I sleep?"
He shook his head. "Don't be silly. The Juppa can growl, you'd wake up."
"Kurama! How can you just leave out all those little details? Like they don't even matter?"
"Keiko, please believe me when I assure you, it cannot grow here."
I sighed, exasperated.
"You're overreacting. I apologize, if I'd known it would upset you this much I would've not told you."
"Oh, yeah? Well, I think you're under reacting."
"Keiko. I am a master at understanding all sorts of plant life. For this, you have no worries."
I crossed my arms. I was not relieved.
"Knowing that you could germinate plants seeds in a man's heart and kill him doesn't mean I am any more at ease with having killer seeds in my house."
"Yes, but I could also root a plant bigger than your house and make it eat any youkai who dared to lay such a foul scheme upon you."
I just stared at him. "Are you offering to make my potential enemies plant food?"
He grinned at me. "Do you want me to?"
I laughed.
Yes, insanity sounds nice.
I hung my head. "Seriously, Kurama, what am I going to do?"
"Would you like me to come by tomorrow and have a peek about? It's probably nothing to worry about."
I sighed again and nodded. "Okay, but until then I'm locking the little evil suckers in the closet. And don't tell me they could grow and just break down the door. I don't want to know that!"
He shook his head. "They have to have full sunlight to germinate."
"Finally, some good news. Into the dark they go."
I paused.
"Or should I just flush them down the toilet?"
"No, no, do not do that. That would be unwise."
The tone of his voice was all the warning I needed. They would go in the closet. Or maybe I would just try to get Kurama to take them off my hands when he came over tomorrow. Scatter them around the Makai, kill off perfectly non-innocent youkai or something, I don't know.
Just as long as the bunnies in my back yard... and me... are perfectly safe.
I stood up. "Shall we head back?"
He agreed and we left. The night was the same, no warmer, no cooler. The walk back was quick and relatively short. The killer seed was in my pocket.
Suspect number one had turned out to be a failure. Because, in all honesty, I believed him.
You couldn't stare Kurama in the face and not believe him.
We returned to Yusuke's to find everyone very involved in the movie. I settled on the floor by Botan's legs and watched. I don't know where Kurama sat, Kuwabara somehow ended up on the other side of me filling me in on the movie action and what I'd missed.
He really was a nice guy.
Yukina was a lucky girl.
The night ended soon after, Kuwabara walked me home. When I got home, my parents were still entertaining, so I went straight to bed. My mother saw me come in, so I didn't worry about them not thinking I hadn't come back.
Tomorrow, Kurama would be at my house. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that yet.
School was a blur. All I was thinking about was the security of my house. As I got home that afternoon to wait for Kurama, he had told me in the hall he needed to take care of something and he'd be there in about an hour... As I waited, I started peeking around.
When I found the first seed in my desk drawer hidden in a stack of pencils I was a little alarmed.
When I found another in the pens, and another in the paper clips and another in the bottom of my files and on top of my little bookshelf; I was freaking out!
I was throwing clothes out of my bureau when I heard a startled "oomph!" from behind me, only to see that I'd tossed a pair of sweat pants at Kurama's face and caught him square in the middle of it.
"Oops..."
He refolded the pants and gingerly set them upon the bed, taking into account the mess I'd made of the place.
"May I inquire as to what you are doing?"
I turned to face him. "I'm going insane."
He just stared at me. "I found 29 seeds! 29! That's 29 that I didn't have yesterday! In my desk, on my rug, beneath my chair cushion, look, look! In my underwear drawer there were so many I couldn't count them all!"
There was that smile again.
"Fix it! Can't you fix it? Where are they coming from? It's like ... they don't have legs in seed form do they? This is like having roaches or termites, they're reproducing or something!"
He actually laughed. "I assure you, they are not reproducing. Seeds do not perpetuate more seeds."
I put my hands on my hips. "Biologically, I know that. But these aren't seeds, Kurama, not normal ones. These are people eating nightmares from another world; I do not consider them subject to normal biology."
He looked amused.
"I'm infested with them."
He looked at me and carefully said. "They're not going to grow."
"Well maybe I just don't like them otherwise. I mean... that's not the point!"
I sat down heavily on my bed.
"It's weird and scary, Kurama."
He kneeled before me. I had folded my hands together in my lap and he leaned down and sort of nuzzled his face against the back of my hand. I felt his lips press a small, chaste kiss upon my skin before he looked up at me once more.
"Keiko, I would never reassure you of your safety if I wasn't absolutely positive of it. If it would make you feel any better I could grab something from my garden for you? A sort of botanical guard?"
"What's a botanical guard? What do you mean by that?"
I was touched he was being so considerate. I really was.
"Something that would eat the Jubba if it did by some freak accident, sprout."
I gave him a hard look. "Tell me you're kidding. You're not actually suggesting that I put a plant that will eat another plant in my room when that plant sounds like it would eat both of us?"
He didn't say anything immediately.
"You mean it really would eat both of us?"
"Well, it wouldn't, but biologically, it could, yes."
"What do you mean, 'it wouldn't but it could'? That doesn't make any sense at all."
"I mean to say, that no plant that I have grown, in other words, no plant that I am master of, is going to do anything to you."
I frowned. I felt like I was pouting.
"At this rate, maybe I should just move out for a while. I didn't find them anywhere in the house but here, my room."
He didn't say anything.
"You're not going to disagree? Kurama!"
He looked back up at me with a smile. "You're right; you shouldn't have to move out. Although if you feel you'd be safer somewhere else, I wouldn't not encourage it, but how would you explain that to your parents?"
I fell back onto the bed and he stood up.
"You going to look around?" I asked, voice tired.
There was a snort from the doorway. "Look around for what; I think it's quite obvious what's happening."
I shot to my feet.
Hiei?
Hiei!
Hiei was in my bedroom doorway!
And there was a light blue bra right at his feet.
Ugh.
"Quite obvious how?" I asked.
Was Kurama holding out on me again?
Hiei picked up one of the little seeds and examined it. "It looks like an offering."
"A what?" I asked dumbly.
"An offering woman, are you listening? A youkai has given you a gift. A sign of protection, a territory marking."
My knees felt weak.
My legs buckled and I landed on my butt.
"You don't mean to tell me... I'm being... courted!"
He tossed the seed onto the bed and just shrugged. That was all the answer I was getting.
He asked Kurama something I didn't catch and I just sat there.
An amorous youkai was, had been, in my bedroom and they could discuss business as usual?
What was I missing here?
What?
"I'm afraid I'll have to go for today, Keiko. Did you want me to give you the guard or no?"
"No," I answered numbly. I didn't get up and he came to kneel beside me, taking my hands.
"Keiko," he murmured softly. "It's all right. Please don't let Hiei alarm you. This is truly very minor. I will handle it for you."
"Yeah," I answered absently. "Grow a plant bigger than my house and eat him..."
Hiei did something of a snort, even though I didn't look up, he sounded amused.
Kurama helped me onto my feet. "I'm sorry I can't stay and help. I would just gather the rest and put them with the others."
I sighed as he helped me to sit on my bed. Clothes were tossed all about me.
"Okay."
He left a few minutes after that.
I was tired.
I was worried.
I was scared.
I wanted to break something.
I camped myself outside of Kurama's homeroom the next afternoon waiting for him to come out. The second he emerged I latched onto his sleeve.
"Are you busy?"
He smiled at me. "Of course not, do you have need of me, Keiko?"
There was something just a tiny bit suggestive about the way he said that, but I was going to ignore it.
"Well, I'm a little worried, can we talk?"
"Certainly."
I also ignored the nasty looks from other girls I was getting for walking with Minamino Shuichi, school stud.
I didn't ask anything until we were well outside the school gates.
"So, are there bat youkai? Or maybe rat youkai? How about mouse or snake youkai? Cause I've been thinking and I'm actually a little bit worried about what kind of youkai could be sneaking into my house and stuff."
"I don't think narrowing down the type of youkai will help any."
"Why not?"
"Because it wouldn't help you any."
"But it would help you..." I protested. "And if it was a mouse youkai, couldn't I just set a trap? A little cheese or... um… peanut butter!"
He stopped me on the sidewalk and took my face in his hands and looked at me. "Did you sleep last night?"
I tried to twist away, but he held me fast. "I was busy last night, thank you."
"With what?" he asked.
"Searching for deadly, albeit inactive Juppa seeds and trying to youkai-proof my room, of course."
He checked a laugh. "Keiko... You can't youkai-proof your room with anything short of holy wards, please don't try. Go home and sleep."
"But that's it. I can't sleep. I can't."
"Come on, I'll walk you home."
We walked in silence. Somewhere along the way, Kurama reached for my hand and I was happy he had. Something about him next to me made me feel safer, less vulnerable.
When we got to my house we ended up in my kitchen with Kurama waiting on me. He had insisted he be allowed to make me tea and I was really too fidgety to argue.
He coaxed me into talking about homework and then we drifted into his knowledge of plant life. He promised to bring me something the next afternoon, one of his favorite plants and I agreed.
If it got him to my house with me, I didn't care why he was coming.
At first, I thought it was because I felt safer with him around. But as I was leading him up the stairs...
He had convinced me to show him where I was keeping the seeds.
As I was leading him up the stairs, I realized that he was actually leading me, my feet felt kind of heavy and I was really, really tired.
We didn't make it to the closet; he led me directly to the bed. As my head hit the pillow, I wondered if he'd planned that, leading me upstairs so I would sleep. I couldn't bring myself to be angry at him though, I was too tired and my bed felt good.
As my eyes drifted closed, I wondered.
What had been in that tea?
I was just on the back edge of consciousness when I thought I felt lips press against mine.
But then, I told you before, I was going insane, remember?
I probably imagined it.
As I stared out my window, a little white creature dashed across my yard. It was bigger than a bunny.
It was sleek and thin and quick.
It seemed to glow under the moonlight.
I caught sight of it again as it moved across the space from the bushes to my front door. It ran, straight at it, and vanished right through the wood.
It took me a moment to realize that.
When I did, my heart began to pound in complete terror. What that it? Was that the youkai planting seeds in my bedroom?
I almost ran from my room and then ran back in. What should I do? He had to be coming up here. I ran into the hall and then back once more and ducked under my bed.
He'd probably smell me.
I was probably sweating fear.
I trembled, I couldn't move. I watched as a pair of feet appeared underneath my door. I could see them.
And then it swung open.
Slowly, but not as though they were sneaking, as though they knew no one was in the room or that they wouldn't be caught.
I could see a pair of thin legs and white cloth and just a glimpse of white fur. As the figure stepped further inside, I scooted back further, deeper under my bed but there wasn't any indication the youkai saw or heard or sensed me at all.
I heard the creature take a deep in-drawn breath and a soft, contended purr rumbled in its chest.
Actually, it was kind of loud. Maybe it was a growl.
I watched him move around as much as I could see him and heard my drawers being opened and the sound of what could only be little seeds being dropped in among my possessions.
Who was this?
I told myself to sprout a backbone and catch him in the act and then firmly reminded myself this was a youkai and I was a human.
As the mystery feet moved from near my window toward my doorway I wiggled myself toward the end of the bed and peeked out. As the figure passed I caught sight of the reflection in the mirror.
White and gold stared back at me.
Stiff ears with blushing pink insides ticked with movement as they hunted for sound.
My mouth fell open in astonishment and those golden pools glinted and darted toward the mirror and met my eyes there.
A smile drew upon his lips and suddenly, he winked at me.
I just laid there.
I swore I forgot how to breathe.
Then he was gone.
A flash of white light or fur or... something.
But all I could remember was golden, glinting eyes.
The golden eyes of Youko Kurama.
My eyes fluttered open lazily, but I felt strangely awake.
Youko Kurama.
At first I didn't see anything in front of me, but then my eyes focused and I was staring into another set of eyes.
Deep, concerned... green.
I freaked. I screamed.
It-... Kurama?
I must have said it aloud because he apologized. I don't know, maybe I didn't say it aloud.
"What are you doing here?"
"I brought you the plant, remember?"
I sat up. I just stared at him.
I was angry.
I felt ... betrayed.
How could he look me in the eye and ...
"Did you do this to me?" I asked.
He looked at me blankly. "Pardon?"
"Did you do this? This?" I made a grand motion about my room. "Did you put these seeds in here? Was this your idea?"
He just stared at me and I got angrier.
"How could you? How could you look me in the face and ... and go on about some other youkai that was... "
I almost choked.
I felt tears, angry tears, hurt tears.
I had believed him!
It was...
It had been him the whole time!
And he didn't deny it!
"How could you? And just what was the point of all this stupidity? How could you do this to me knowing I'd worry? Knowing I couldn't sleep?"
"Stupidity? I am most offended. The Juppa plant is one of my most beautifully lethal plants. It is a sign of my protection of you. My claim. My offering, Keiko. I've marked you with it; I've bathed you in Juppa seeds."
I frowned at him.
"At the very first hint of danger, the Juppa would sprout and devour anything that dared to harm you."
I growled and climbed out from beneath my blankets. "You told me it wouldn't grow here!"
"It won't. These seeds are part of my garden, part of my stock. They require my energy to grow and feed. "
We stared at one another for several tense moments and Kurama apologized.
"I'm sorry that it has upset you. Does this mean you are rejecting me?"
"Why couldn't you have just done something normal? Ask me to a movie?" I asked weakly. "Dinner, maybe? Something nice, easy, normal..."
I stared at my hands.
He moved and the sound drew my attention, but it was the look on his face that worried me.
"Because I am not normal, Keiko. I am a fox."
He left, quicker than I could find the words to stop him and I had the distinct impression I'd just hurt his feelings.
Kurama stared at his bedroom wall with a frown on his lips. Keiko was upset, beyond upset perhaps. He was more than a little disturbed at the look upon her face when he'd left.
Like he'd willingly put her into danger and betrayed or abandoned her to it.
The Juppa was harmless...until it threatened the potential mate of its master, hence him.
Our claim, our offering was acknowledged. You asked her direct, if she rejected us, and she did not.
'That may be so,' Shuichi acknowledged. 'But that simply may be because she didn't quite know what to make of it all.'
Nonsense. We did choose her because we thought she was different than the other human females. Because she knew what we are and she could live with us, as we are, in this world.
'Our reasons do not matter if she rejects us.'
Do you wish to abandon our claim?
'She has not rejected our offering.'
So that means...
'We will move on to Stage Three.'
Author's notes: This pairing isn't one of my normal things, but it's my third YYH fic so I'm not as uncomfortable as I once was.
Sailor Panda: I got forgot about the purple ink entry, I meant to take that out, oops. You're right, first person pov's are hard to write and it's very easy to go OOC, I'm almost sorry I wrote this one that way, but there's no way I'm going back to change it. These chapters are monstrously long. The break was in the wrong spot, when I saw that I could've smashed something.
Reviewers: You've been sweet, thanks. I was nervous about this story, I so suck at humor.