-----Author's Note-----
Miss Rawr:Thank you so much, InuKurama, for the review! I was so thrilled to already get a review that I put out this second chapter. I hope you like it!
Chapter 2: Youko Reveals Himself
FF to the weekend
Kurama and Re had been spending a lot time with each other everyday after school and they were beginning to be close friends. Despite the harassment from "The Shuiichi Fan club", Rei still kept in close contact with Kurama. Now that the weekend was finally here, he wanted to do something really special with Rei so he could tell her his secret.
Kurama P.O.V.
"You must tell her about us, boy."
"I know Youko, I know."
"We must have her. I'm serious. We must."
"I know Youko, I know."
"You don't even care. She could slip through our fingers. And you don't even care. You foolish ningen. You baka!"
"You need to calm down, Youko. I was planning on telling her today."
Meanwhile
Rei was walking to Shuiichi's house. He had called her earlier saying that he had something special planned. She thought to herself, "Why am I so nervous? He's just a boy. Yes, just a boy. A boy with amazing emerald eyes and flowing scarlet hair and that smile—that smile could make the sun melt. What am I saying? He could never be interested in me that way."
Rei was going up the walkway of Shuiichi's house when she spotted his mother, Shiori. "Why hello, dear. How are you doing today?"
"I'm doing great, Mrs. Minamino. Is Shuiichi home?"
Shiori smiled. "Of course, sweetheart. He has been waiting for you all day. You know, he never stops talking about you." She smiled sweetly and continued. "Well, I won't be home for much of the day, but from what I hear, my Shuiichi is taking you somewhere. It was nice talking to you, Rei."
"The pleasure was all mine, Mrs. Minamino." Rei watched Shiori walk to her car and then turned around and thought to herself, "He talks about me. To his mother no less. Do I mean that much to him?"
While Rei was standing in front of his house with a puzzled look on her face, Kurama decided to break her out of her spell. He lightly placed his hand on her shoulder. "Rei…Rei…Rei?" He gripped her shoulder a little more firmly. "Rei?"
Rei snapped out of it and blushed. "I'm sorry, Shuiichi. I was just thinking."
"It's quite alright, Rei. Now…are you ready for today?"
"What exactly are we going to do today?"
Shuiichi smiled. "Well, that would be a surprise." His eyes then flickered amber. Youko was now in control. "Unless that is, you'd like to persuade me otherwise." He smirked at her and walked behind her, breathing down her neck.
Rei shut her eyes tight and bit her lip. "I think a surprise would be just fine, Shuiichi."
Youko could sense her heavy breathing and her heart rate increasing. He then lost control as Shuiichi regained it. "Rei, are you ready to go?" He extended his arm to her.
"Y-y-yes. Yes I am." She took his arm and they started to walk.
Kurama and Rei continued walking. After about ten minutes, he turned to her. "Rei, you have to close your eyes now. It's a surprise as to where we're going."
Rei closed her eyes and thought to herself, "I wonder where he is taking me."
Kurama smiled lovingly while she had her eyes closed. He couldn't believe how fond of her he was growing. While she was standing there with her eyes shut tight, he took her hand and started to run at a fast speed.
Rei could feel wind caressing her face. "Shuiichi. Why do we have to go so fast? It's hard to keep my eyes closed."
"We're almost there, Rei, hang in there."
Kurama slowed to a stop as they reached their destination. He thought to himself, "She's in for a treat."
Kurama put his hands on her shoulders and whispered into her ear, "Are you ready to open your eyes, because you can now."
Rei opened her eyes and her mouth almost touched the ground. She was in awe of what she saw. There was a large Weeping Willow tree and underneath it was a red and white checked picnic blanket complete with a basket. There was ivy all around which complimented the lovely wild flowers scattered all around. A little ways away from the tree was a brook, which was lined with brightly colored wild flowers.
"Shuiichi. I-I-it's so beautiful. All of this…all of this is for-f-for me?"
Kurama smiled tenderly at Rei. "Why, yes. I would have thought that you'd figure by now how I feel about you, Rei." He went to go sit down on the blanket and motioned for her to join him.
Rei was beaming as she sauntered over to him and sat down. Kurama looked up at her.
"Rei, there is something I must tell you though."
"What is it, Shuiichi?'
He took a deep breath. "My real name isn't Shuiichi Minamino. My real name is Youko Kurama, a thief of the Makai. I am really over 200 years old and my story is very long and—"
"Kurama." She paused and smiled at him. "I know this already. Yusuke had already told me."
He stared at her dumbfounded. "You know Yusuke? But—but—"
Rei smiled. "Kurama, I know about everything. About Koenma, Botan, Genkai, in fact, I know we are in her forest."
"But…how…how—"
She bit her lip. "My life story isn't as exciting as yours, I'm afraid. When I was very young, I believe I was about 2 or 3; my parents had some dealings with these powerful demons. My parents had gone into debt with these demons and they couldn't find a way to pay them back. So," She closed her eyes. "….they sold me to the demons. I was a slave up until a few months ago."
Kurama looked at her blankly. "But you're 16. For that long?"
"Yes."
"I'm terribly sorry, Rei. I didn't mean for you to have to bring this up."
"Don't be. I've been given another chance at life. Yusuke had saved me while he was in the Makai, and he brought me to Genkai. She started to train me and learned that I have great potential as a psychic. I am very lucky to not be there anymore. And I am very lucky to have met you." She smiled as she said this.
Kurama returned her smile. "Rei…I know this may sound a bit…um…soon, but I was wondering if you'd like to be…um...more than friends?"
Rei smiled and gave him a soft kiss on the tip of his nose. "How could I say no when you went through all this trouble doing all this stuff for me?"
Kurama sighed with relief. "Good. Because I wasn't going to take no for an answer." He chuckled heartily as he took her into his arms while leaning his back onto the tree.
Rei looked up at him affectionately while laying her head on his chest. She blissfully said, "Kurama, I do believe this is the start of something beautiful."
After a matter of minutes, she had fallen asleep. Kurama smirked and thought to himself, "I suppose that the soothing properties in jasmine put her right to sleep."