Kurama would be the first to admit that he knew absolutely nothing at all about phone etiquette. Especially when it came to someone that he was infatuated with.

So, it was totally understandable that he wound up calling several of his friends for some sort of advice that he could use in this situation. After all, he didn't know how long to wait and other things. But he definitely didn't want to seem rude or overly eager either.

Yusuke, was no help whatsoever when he asked for his advice. But then considering how long it had taken his friend to finally talk Keiko into marrying him, he shouldn't have been surprised.

He told him to wait one minute and then blow up the girl's phone with pleas for a date or something. So, his advice was useless.

Kuwabara told him to at least wait until she was off work.

Which was more useful than he expected from the ginger haired man. But he supposed that he wasn't half as surprised as he usually would have been given the fact that he knew that Kuwabara had finally managed to confess his feelings for Yukina and had even married the ice maiden several years ago.

But just in case his advice wasn't right either, he then called his other friend Hiei and ask him what he should do.

Hiei, shockingly enough, upon receiving his call and having him explain everything to him- managed to somehow sound both bored and interested in his affairs all at once. But despite this, the fire demon still managed to give him his own special brand of advice. Which ran along the lines of, "Stop acting pathetic and just mate the female already."

Kurama had merely chuckled at his response, since it was just like Hiei to say something like that and gotten hung up on by the other demon for not biting back his laugh so that he wouldn't hear it.

After that he resigned himself to sitting in his home and wait.

He spent a majority of his day alternating between reading some of the books he'd gotten on his outing and menacing his phone. Patience and impatience warring within him and he silently prayed for time to pass just a tad bit faster.

Finally, the appropriate time rolled around- he'd decided to go with Kuwabara's suggestion since it just made the most sense to him- and started to call Miss Kurosaki when his phone suddenly rang. He jumped, since he hadn't expected someone to call him while he was attempting to do something and scowled down at the phone for a moment in disappointment before answering it.

His mood shifted automatically when he heard his mother's voice say his name. Perking up a bit in his seat, he responded with a polite but affectionate sounding, "Hello mother."

"Shuichi darling, how are you?"

"I'm well. Are you and father alright?" He asked, suddenly worried about why she would be calling him out of the blue when he'd talked to her two days ago to check on, she and his stepfather.

"We're doing okay, dear. Still alive and kicking." His mother said, eliciting a small smile from him before then saying, "That isn't why I'm calling."

"Oh?" Now she had him curious. Well, more curious than he was a moment ago anyways. "Do you need money again or something?" He asked knowing that asking for money was something that his parents simply did on occasion. It wasn't a big deal nor something for them be ashamed of.

They were his family after all. And he liked taking care of them any way that he could regardless of what it was they asked for.

"Actually darling..." His mother paused for a moment and then launched into an explanation about why she was calling him so suddenly. Apparently, she and his father had been worried about him for a while. And since he rarely had any time for dating or socializing with people his own age- which was easily translated by him into; You're twenty something and still single. And I want grandchildren.

And since he wasn't dating or anything, his parents had both been meddling. Or to be more accurate- matchmaking for him behind his back.

They had found a nice young heiress for him. Someone with ties to the Kuchiki-Shiba families.

Which was nice and all. But he wasn't marrying some strange woman just to appease his parents nor for her inheritance or connections either. He may have been a lot of things, a demon- a liar, over three thousand and twenty something years old- but he wasn't gold digger. Not by a long chance.

So, when his mother mentioned him meeting the young lady for an omiai, he sighed and wanted to bang his head on something but refrained when she suddenly uttered Miss Kurosaki's name. Or at least he thoughts that she had.

She had been in mid ramble when he suddenly cut her off and asked her to mention the young lady's name again. His heart leapt up into his throat, and he nearly dropped the phone before she could say anything else.

Nearly, but not quite.

Tightening his grip on the phone he then asked her when the meeting was to take place, where, what time, and who was acting on Miss Kurosaki's behalf.

He was startled to learn that quite a few people were behind the push for Miss Kurosaki to go to the omiai. The girl's father, her two younger siblings, her aunt, her two uncles, her cousin, her godfather- and weirdly enough, the head of the Kuchiki family as well.

Honestly by the time his mother finished mentioning how many people were involved in the attempt to marry the poor woman off, his head was almost spinning, and he found himself blurting out, "Just how much do those people hate her?"

His mother giggled before replying, "I don't think that they hate her any, darling. Quite the contrary, with the way that everyone speaks of her- she's actually very beloved by each of them." He was relieved by hearing that. But it still worried him that so many people were involved in Miss Kurosaki's personal life as his mother carefully tacked on.

"They all worry that she's alone far too much. And there's only so much that her close friends can do to keep her company, you know?"

He did know. And he understood more than he dared to say. It took him several minutes after that to think about what he wished to do here. Despite his overall interest in the young woman, the situation was snowballing on them both, and he wasn't entirely certain that an omiai was the best way to get to know her.

Depending on if she had advanced warning of the arrangement or not- she may be resistant and upset at the idea of meeting anyone. She may even lash out.

But in the end, he still agreed to take the chance anyways. And after checking the watch on his wrist for the time, he told his mother that he'd be at the meeting place after he got himself cleaned up a bit and changed.

After all, if he were going to an arranged marriage meeting then he was going to damn well show up dressed to kill.