Hello everyone. Again, short AN, then right onto the story. Thanks to any who thought to review, you shall be mentioned and replied to at the end of the chapter. And thanks in advance to future reviewers and readers. Have fun!

Chapter 2: Mysterious Girl

---"My name is Luck; this is my song... I happened by when you were gone... Oh well, I apologize that I could not stay, but I hope that good things swing your way... I know they will; here's your horseshoe... So best of luck to you... From the stable running brave... From the cradle to the grave... This is my day, this is my song! I am alive, what can go wrong? If we're on our way-oh, okay let me know... If we're on our way-oh, okay then; let's go..." Damn Shizuru. She'd once more gotten a song suck in her brother's head and he fumed about it as he walked down the street by her house. It was about three in the morning, true, but for some reason he just couldn't sleep. He had this nagging feeling that someone needed him out here. A little over six feet tall with tightly curled orange-red hair and brown eyes, Kazuma Kuwabara wandered the streets, going wherever he thought he had to at the moment. Truth be told, he was none to happy about it, but he decided it would be best out of his house and away from his sister.

---"My name is Hope, Luck just ran out... He said he'd return, without a doubt (ah, but don't you believe it)... Oh I happen to have a message from Love; she told me she knows what you've been dreamin' of... My name is Hope; this is my song... When things go wrong... From the stable running brave... From the cradle to the grave... This is my day, this is my song! I am alive, what can go wrong? If we're on our way-oh, okay let me know... If we're on our way-oh, okay then; let's go..." At least it made sense why she'd gotten that specific song stuck in his head. He'd always been told by his friends that he was a complete "hopeless romantic" type, probably because he'd fallen for a girl he knew he could never have. He thought about the song as he walked around, gazing at the starry sky, face lit up in the pale light of the half moon. Sighing, he leaned against the wall, still staring distantly at the shining objects of the heavens.

---"Through the wind-swept countryside... Across the great divide... From the stable running brave... From the cradle to the grave! This is my day, this is my song! As long as I'm alive what can go wrong? If we're on our way-oh, okay let me know... If we're on our way-oh, okay then; let's go..." The sound of quiet sobs reached his ears from the next alley over and he looked into it quizzically. As far as he could tell from sight, the alley was empty and shadowed. But he could sense another life force within and the sobs also told him someone hid within those shadows. Cautiously, he crept into the dark alley, calling out quietly, "Hello? Is there anyone here?" The chocked sobs continued as he made his way down the alley, and when he finally came upon the creator of the sound he started in shock; it was a young girl, barely as old as him with black hair and pale skin like the moon, and her ragged and torn clothes were splattered with blood.

---Instinctively, Kazuma reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder, kneeling next to her. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, shaking her shoulder lightly. When she looked up at him, he could see that her eyes were very dark and red from crying. "Who, who are you?" she asked quietly, her voice scared and timid.

---"My name is Kazuma Kuwabara," he replied, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around her shivering form, even though it was a hot summer night. "I'm here to help you. How'd you get so much blood all over you? Are you hurt?"

---"N-no, I-I..." The young teen drifted off and slumped over, Kazuma barely catching her. Damn, she's out he thought, looking around. And the hospital is over twenty blocks away. I guess I'll have to take her back to my house... I know! I'll call up Kurama and have him come by and patch her up! Firmly intent on his new resolution, he scooped up the girl's limp form, surprised at how light she was, and took off towards his house only five blocks down. Don't worry kid he thought, smiling to himself. No girl dies on Kazuma Kuwabara's watch!

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---At the Minamino residence, all was quiet and dark. Suiichi's mother had gone to sleep hours before he had, and the fox youkai himself had only been asleep for an hour before he was rather rudely awakened by his cellular phone. The cheery Irish music of "Lord Redfern's Return" jingled as he pushed himself up onto his forearms and blinked to clear the blurriness ensued via lack of sleep. As the song continued to chime, he reached a slender right hand over to it and pressed the "Talk" button on the phone. Glancing at his clock, he groaned as he realized that Yusuke had left his house only an hour and a half ago, and (still disoriented and discontented) he put the phone to his ear and muttered out groggily, "'Ello Kazuma. What is it that couldn't... wait 'till morning?" Halfway through his sentence he'd had to stifle a yawn, but Kuwabara's voice came through the connection easily, as he seemed not to notice.

---"Sorry, I woke you up, didn't I?" he asked timidly. Kurama sighed as he pushed himself into a sitting position and muttered, "Yes actually, but that's not the point. Why did you call me at a quarter to four in the morning?"

---"Well, I kinda need your help." Kurama rolled his eyes. Hopefully this ningen didn't need help with his homework, too. He'd had enough of that for one night, thankyouverymuch. "With what exactly Kazuma?" he asked tiredly. "I have work tomorrow, and if I fall asleep on the job..."

---"I found a girl in the alley by my house," the other boy explained quickly. "She was sobbing and covered in blood. My sis is washing her up now and getting her clean clothes, but with that much blood, she's probably seriously injured." Confused but now interested, Kurama leaned forward, resting his upper body on his arms, which in turn rested on his knees. "Why didn't you take her to the hospital?" he asked. "They have much more extensive training than I do."

---"Yeah, but I got the feeling she isn't fully human." Kurama paused, thinking this over. When the other boy said his name to make sure he was still on the line, he replied quickly (although still exhausted), "I'll be there as soon as I can." He hung up the phone and stood, grabbing the shirt he'd thrown over his chair before falling into bed an hour-and-a-half ago and snagged his jacket and backpack as he left his plant-filled room. Slipping tennis shoes on his feet (which had amazingly kept their socks upon them), he walked out of his house, locked the door, then bolted as fast as he could in his still-waking state to his ningen friend's home.

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---Kurama knocked at the door about ten minutes later, breathing heavily after running so far so fast. He tried to look presentable as the door opened and portrayed his six-foot tall friend in the frame. "You made it," Kuwabara said, smiling slightly. "Right on time, too. Shizuru's got her in her room resting." Kurama only nodded tiredly and stepped in, slipping his shoes off at the door before walking down the hall silently. Creepy as always Kuwabara thought, shaking his head and closing the door before following the kitsune down the hall.

---By the time he'd entered the room, Kurama had already started looking over the girl with Shizuru outside on the balcony, smoking again. Kuwabara walked over closer and kneeled next to Kurama as the kitsune shook his head tiredly. "What? Is she badly hurt?" Kazuma asked. Again, Kurama shook his head. "On the contrary, she's perfectly fine," he muttered, standing up again. "I can find no physical injury on her body."

---"That's impossible!" Kazuma exclaimed in hushed tones. "She was covered with blood! Where could all that blood have come from?"

---"Perhaps it was not her own," Kurama replied in exasperation, now starting to get irritable from lack of sleep. He left the room and began walking to the door again as Kuwabara came out behind him, sliding slightly on the wood floor. "Where are you going?" the other boy asked, catching up with Kurama after a few seconds.

---"Home!" Kurama snapped, turning and glaring at the ningen, who stopped and gave the kitsune a wary look. "I have not slept for a very long while and it is four in the morning on the night before I need to go to work! Please, let me go home and sleep!" He glared at Kazuma for a second more before he realized what he had said and sighed again, looking away at the floor. "I'm sorry Kazuma-san. I'm tired, that's all. I shouldn't take it out on you."

---"It's... okay," Kuwabara said quietly. "Go ahead and crash here tonight. I don't think I'd want to see the next guy to keep you awake tonight." Kurama nodded and slid his backpack to the floor by the blue couch, falling onto it after a few seconds. He was out before he even touched the cushions. Kazuma let out the breath he had been holding, once more remembering why he usually chose not to cross the kitsune; Kurama was rather frightening when angry. Or lacking of sleep he added mentally, looking down at the sleeping boy on his couch. Oddly enough, it seemed that the two best fighters and only youkai of their Reikai Tentai team looked so much more innocent while they were asleep. Considering one of them was a renowned thief and the other a famed assassin, that was not something that could be easily accomplished or predicted.

---Calmly, he pulled a spare blanket out of the closet and draped it over Kurama's sleeping form, causing the kitsune to curl up much like a fox would under the thick cotton. Turning his attention back to the matter at hand, Kazuma walked back into his sister's room to take watch over the girl. Pulling up a chair and sitting down in it backwards, he rested his head on his arms and watched for any sign of her waking up as his sister came back inside and told him as she walked out of the room that she was stealing his bed for the night. He ignored her, as he knew he'd be staying up anyway, and (as they so often do) that infernal American song came to his head again. Groaning in exasperation, he tapped his forehead against the back of the chair.

---This was going to be a long night.

End Chapter

Now that the chapter's over, it's onto the reviewer response!

Kajihenge Yoko - Why thank you, I think it is too. And I'm glad you like it; so do Tren and I. --smiles--

Done! Now, please tell me how you like it if you want. Otherwise, just tell Trenity170 to get off her butt and rewrite Twilight already! It's ticking me off Tren! Buh-bye y'all! --smiles--