True Belonging

by Too Young to Feel This Tired

It always felt as if the world was grey, haunted, silent with barely enough noise for him to realize that he was awake and present. Except for when she touched him. When she touched him, the world bathed in the brightest colors of sunflowers and green ribbons in raven hair.M for swearing, violence, non-con and later consensual explicit smut

3. Youth Part I

Title: True Belonging

Summary: It always felt as if the world was grey, haunted, silent with barely enough noise for him to realize that he was awake and present. Except for when she touched him. When she touched him, the world bathed in the brightest colors of sunflowers and green ribbons in raven hair. M for swearing, violence, non-con and later consensual explicit smut

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Chapter Three: Youth Part I.

---

Querencia

(Spanish.)

A place from which one's strength is drawn,

Where one feels at home;

The place where you are your most authentic self.

---

Warning: Non-con and mentions of blood!

---

'Your hair is down,' said Shuichi right off the bat instead of a greeting as Nana rushed out of the house with a piece of toast comically sticking out of her mouth.

Groaning, the dark-haired girl rose her leg while blindly reaching for her friend's support so she would be able to fix her sock that was almost by her shoe with her spare hand.

The redhead next to her easily caught her wrist and put a steady hand on her lower back until at least her footwear and socks looked more presentable.

Nana took a bite out of the toast before she pulled it away from her mouth only for Shuichi to lean down and steal a bite as well in a move quicker than anything the girl could have anticipated from how leisure he appeared a second ago, 'Thief!'

It wasn't the first time, he seemed not really interested or paying much attention only to react faster than even a fully focused person would. Nana thought that ability of his was extremely annoying at times.

'Shuichi-kun,' chuckled Shiori-san who finally reached the two as well coming from their house with a camera in her hand.

Nana greeted her and then turned back to her best friend again.

'I didn't have time,' she replied to Shuichi's original comment about the state of her hair. It was true. It was down and missing her signature green ribbon that held her ponytail in place. She knew it would be something that would bother her friend since as long as she knew the boy any deviation from their daily routines was questioned, teased, or frowned upon by him.

'You would have the time if you went to bed earlier,' he said as he let her go, and pulled the ribbon from the handle of her school bag where she decided to tie it for today.

'Stop taking my things,' she warned him raising her voice a bit before Shiori-san said, 'It's alright. We still have a few moments. The ceremony doesn't start until later.'

Nana sighed and exchanged the leftover of her delicious toast, which she barely managed to make without burning this morning, since she was running so late, with her green ribbon. She pulled her hair up watching with envy as Shuichi quickly finished it purposely ignoring her despair. Nana was thrilled whenever he, her granny, or Shiori-san liked her newest food masterpieces, but it was getting annoying how often Shuichi stole her food. Not even his praise was worth of an empty stomach.

The devil in question looked over at her with that slight grin and a twinkle in his eye he usually only had reserved for when he was teasing her someway while Nana finished her hair, 'It's not fair. You went to bed the same time I did. We watched that show together.'

She quickly snatched a look at Shiori-san to make sure the woman was preoccupied with setting up the camera and wouldn't find out that the two stayed up past their bedtime the night before their first day in middle school only to watch a horror movie.

'Perks of not being lazy,' said Shuichi smugly even though Nana knew he didn't really mean it and rewarded the answer with an eye roll just as Shiori-san finally raised the camera, 'Alright, I think it will be alright now. Ready?'

The two nodded and stepped closer offering their smiles for the picture to please both Shiori-san and Nana's granny as they wanted a memento of their first day in middle school.

Shuichi's mother took about ten pictures before she finally allowed them to run toward the direction of the school waving while reminding them not to ruin their new uniforms on the first day.

Neither of them liked them very much. Shuichi could at least wear pants while Nana was stuck to a skirt that made her feel too exposed and a shirt that unpleasantly scratched her collarbones. It was April, but luckily today was warm enough to skip the coats which offered Shiori-san an excellent opportunity for the pictures.

They managed to get to the building and the ceremony with a few moments to spare catching faces or waves of some of the kids they knew from elementary school, their street, or kindergarten. Most of which seemed ignored or friendly enough toward them.

As their names were announced, and they were divided into classes, Nana felt a sense of relief, she could tell Shuichi shared with her when they learned they were both heading to 1-A. Somehow, her friend even managed to get them into the class before anyone else and take their seats close to each other by the windows. Even before her best friend was always good in hiding and seek and any sport-related game, but growing up it seemed like he further sharpened his cat-like reflexes causing him to win every single game no matter the opponent. It would have caused her to feel frustrated if she wasn't absolutely uninterested in winning or losing and rather did what she did just because it was fun. Well, it used to be, but lately, Nana had the sense most of the games with her bored Shuichi since he knew he would always win even if he never said so out loud.

Their school day was short and after a couple of hours of introduction and general instructions, their new homeroom teacher let them go.

Nana wasn't sure what it was, but she had this strange sense that someone was eyeing them and whispering something about them. She didn't actually saw anyone look very interested in them so maybe it was just her imagination, but before she could ask, Shuichi suggested that they go for ice cream. It came a bit out of the blue, but it wasn't like she had anything against the idea, so she followed the odd looks slipping out of her mind completely.

'Misa's in our class again,' said Nana once they were finally on their way home finishing their treats.

The sigh her best friend let out was barely audible, but Nana still caught it allowing her lips to spread into a small smirk at his expanse. Even she found their old classmate annoying at times but watching Shuichi try to compose himself in order not to react toward some of the nonsense she spread at times was without the doubt one of the most hilarious things, Nana ever saw. It wasn't always like that, but sometimes it was clear the boy was at his limit to how much bullshit he could tolerate on a daily basis even if it was true that Shuichi preferred to stay out of the spotlight of any drama going on in class.

'It's not worth it,' he said which by now Nana could easily decode as it's boring and annoying.

He wasn't a total killjoy. At least in Nana's opinion, he wasn't. Shuichi had a rather competitive and playful side which he revealed by his quick comebacks and the number of games (board, arcade, home video games), he forced Nana to play almost daily. After he forced her to finish all her homework, of course. He could crack her up with the most absurd joke or spent hours teasing her just to balance her mood between playful and annoyed. Sometimes, she was sure he liked seeing her all fired up by something he said acting all innocent with a calm smile on his face and a rather mischief twinkle in the corner of his eyes. Sadistic traitor.

'Maybe we should go another way,' said Shuichi all of the sudden causing her to run into his hand as he raised it to literally stop her from taking another step.

'Why?' Nana asked finishing her ice cream and looking between his face and the direction where his eyes seemed to be fixed at within a rather intense way.

There were some older middle schoolers with the same uniform as Shuichi's talking with each other and looking back and forth between each other and them.

She couldn't hear them, and up until now she didn't even notice them or would think their behavior had anything to do with Shuichi or her, but now something close to dread crept into her stomach and caused her to assess her best friend's words and posture differently.

'Uh, sure,' her voice probably gave her worry away, 'we can go around the flower shop?' she suggested already taking a step back quickly finishing her ice cream.

'Great,' Shuichi's voice was cheerful not giving away any of the cold-bloodedness she momentarily caught in his expression. By now, Nana would think she knew almost every single one of her friend's expressions, but from time to time it was as if he decided to break from the habit and reveal a new one, she never saw before, and found both terrifying and thrilling. It was always a mixture of both. She didn't think it was always like this. In fact, the girl with raven hair was sure it only started a couple of years ago that sometimes despite his best effort to appear unphased by things, his poker face and posture would crack and reveal some burningly intense emotion. Most of the time, if it involved her safety-

'Oi! First graders!' called out one of the boys as they started to walk a bit backward to be able to cross the street and end up by the flower shop.

Nana swallowed a bit feeling a rush of emotions all solely bad ones such as dread run across her body letting her know that this wasn't alright, and she should walk faster. It was daylight, and she was with Shuichi, but she still felt uneasy, to say the least, that a group of older boys was rushing after them for some unknown reason. She didn't know them, and she was sure Shuichi didn't either. Did they want to shake them down for money or something? Tough luck. Nana just spent her last coins on the ice cream so unless they were interested in her exercise books, they weren't going to get anything out of her. She also doubted Shuichi had much on him either since he was very serious about economizing everything he received from his mom or grandparents.

She sensed Shuichi slowing down a bit, but in doing so he put himself between the boys and her. This startled her since that would put him at more risk against the four boys that seemed to be following them now. She didn't care how scared she was of them, she didn't want Shuichi to get harm trying to protect her, 'What are you-?'

'Hey, I'm talking to you!' called out another boy, or at least Nana assumed it was someone different right before she felt someone grabbed her arm and spun her around at the same time, they pushed Shuichi to the side.

She wasn't sure what they were telling him, but the boy that had her grinned leaning closer to her face and holding her arm tight enough that the pressure hurt, 'Today, I heard principal call out your name. Hinata Nana, right?'

The girl blinked now really wondering if she knew this boy and if she should have recognized him from somewhere. By nature, she and Shuichi weren't very social creatures. The only people she knew were somehow involved with her granny, the street they lived on, or her elementary school.

She blinked not sure what to say although she was sure she wanted him to let go of her arm now. The last of her ice cream was melting away. Soon it would melt into her hand and possibly a new school uniform which would be the last thing she would want as her granny bought it for her just a couple of days ago.

Her eyes moved away from the creepy-looking boy, who was grinning at her the way she imagined Fuku did right before he was about to catch his mouse. It made her feel uncomfortable and even more scared than she did before while wishing they had taken a different way home sooner or perhaps not stopped for ice cream at all.

Nana tried to look at Shuichi, but she couldn't because the other two boys were holding him and blocking her view.

'Hey!' snapped the boy holding her and shook her a bit, 'I asked you a question.'

'Yes, it-it's me, what of it?' she asked trying and failing to sound like she wasn't scared or nervous about the whole situation.

The boy smirked again. Nana found him incredibly ugly when he did that, 'I used to live close to your mom. She's really something, isn't she?'

Nana's blood ran cold.

It had been years since the last time she had any contact with her mother due to what happened last time they met. For a while, she was terrified of running into her again, but now she mostly acted as if she didn't even have a mother, to begin with. When she came to live with her granny alone when she was four, there were times when someone asked about her mom because they knew her growing up in granny's house on their street too, but now she almost never got asked about Hinata Izumi at all.

Now Nana knew that whatever this boy could possibly want from her wouldn't be good, and reminded her of what the last man who knew her mom wanted from her. Her stomach twisted as she tried to pull her arm away feeling once again like a trapped animal that wanted freedom, 'Let go of me.'

Her voice sounded more confident than before as, despite nausea, she had a sense of determination knowing that she managed to get out of an uncomfortable and dangerous situation before and that she could do it again if she needed to any way necessary.

'You're kind of pretty. Your cheeks are chubby, but still doable,' continued the boy as if he didn't even notice how much she didn't want to talk to him anymore.

The ice cream didn't waste time and melted through her fingers all the way to the pavement as Nana tried to at least shift her wrist so she would avoid the stains on her clothing.

The boy's eyes moved to Nana's hand, and he chuckled sounding nasty. The urge to throw up rose since she found him really repulsive.

'Will you allow me to take a lick, Hinata Nana?' he asked just as he looked at her again, and made her feel properly sick and disgusting just by being in his presence.

She wasn't sure what happened next since she couldn't see Shuichi and the other boys trying to break the hold of this jerk, but all of the sudden one of the boys who was holding Shuichi was on the ground with a startled sound while the other took a step back bumping into the boy who was holding her.

'Let her go.'

The voice came seemingly out of nowhere, and before she knew it Shuichi's back was in front of her, and without looking at her the redhead managed to grab the other boy's wrist and break his hold on Nana's arm causing her to stumble a bit backward from the force.

She tossed the ice cream to the ground not even caring she did so, just caught up in looking at Shuichi's back and the jerk who wouldn't let her go face.

The older boy looked upset while the other two helped the one who was on the ground up. Nana was about to try and get between them fearing that he would try and punch Shuichi, but she was stopped again by her friend taking a hold of her clean hand.

'And don't ever touch her.'

Blinking in shock, Nana realized the voice belonged to Shuichi, and it made sense because it sounded like him, and since she could see the faces of everyone else it had to be, but the pure ice-cold way he said those two sentences was nothing like him at all.

Her eyes shifted toward his red hair and then back to the older boy's face. He was taller than Shuichi even if by now Shuichi managed to beat her in height by towering over her by at least five inches. He was older than Shuichi and her. And based on his rude, disgusting, and horrible behavior in daylight, he probably wouldn't have a problem starting a fight with them. Even more so, since he had at least three other boys to help him.

However, to Nana's absolute confusion, right after her eyes jumped from Shuichi's hair back to the other boy's face, she found it twisted with a look of absolute horror. It was the same look she saw last night when she and Shuichi watched that horror movie and the next victim was expecting the ghost to get it. His eyes were wide and his irises tiny. His mouth was open shaking like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

She tried to look at the other boys but for some reason, they looked just as petrified in fear. And from the looks of it, this was due to looking at Shuichi's face which she couldn't see because he was still pushing her behind him by holding her hand.

'Leave us.'

If it was possible there was a great silence that followed after his last words. None of them moved and perhaps the whole street went quiet with the air around them changing with a sudden intense pressure.

Then it was as if a needle broke a balloon and caused all of that compressed air out. All four boys started to back away mumbling or shouting stuff and threats while Nana and Shuichi stood still in the street watching them leave.

After about a second or two Nana blinked causing whatever possessed her not to move either to lose its hold.

She moved to look at Shuichi's face just as he turned it to look at her. It was clear now. She could tell he was still frustrated about what happened because she knew him the longest, but if anyone passing by would see him, they would think he was a relaxed boy in a good mood. Whatever expression he had before that caused even older boys to looked worried was gone, however.

'Let's go the other way,' he said and started to go while Nana kept on looking between him and the boys feeling that it wouldn't be the end of it, 'They knew my mom-'

'I heard,' he said as he leaned down to grab the cone from the ice cream she tossed to the ground so he could properly toss it into a trashcan.

It surprised the girl that he did since between what that jerk-face was telling her and how far Shuichi and the others were, she didn't hear them at all, 'He said stuff.'

'It will be alright,' he said, his voice now calm and warm unlike the icy blood running cold one he used before, 'They won't hurt you. I promise.'

His hand shifted a bit so it would be easier for him to give her a reassuring squeeze. His face held a gentle look and with a small honest smile, she knew he meant it although it didn't make sense to her.

'You can't promise that,' she argued. She learned a long time ago, they could only promise each other things they had control over, and Shuichi would never carelessly promise anything or lie just to make her feel better.

'Maybe I should tell granny,' she mumbled trying to come up with a plan about what to do before she felt Shuichi's hand take hers and press it against his chest while his green eyes bore into hers with determination and confidence that she knew all too well. He always looked into her eyes to prove something to her and chase away any doubts she could have about him or his words, 'Nana, I will fix this. Don't worry.'

Despite the dread inside her stomach and doubts inside the back of her mind, Nana was proud of herself for being a good and devoted friend. She would never openly cause Shuichi to think she didn't trust him because she did. Doubts or no doubts.

Taking a deep breath, the black-haired girl nodded, 'I believe you.'

His lips curled into a small smile just for her satisfied with her reply, 'Good. It's going to be alright, I promise, Nana.'

They headed home after that to tell first her granny and later when Shuichi's mom came from work how their first day went on. Without a single word, they silently agreed not to mention the incident on their way home and only confessed about the ice cream and taking the long road by the flower shop.

Going to bed, Nana tried to chase the thoughts about those jerks and her mom away. Shuichi said it would be alright. He got those boys to leave her alone, and her mom wasn't here. It would be fine. She just had to believe it.

She hoped.

Somehow, she managed to fall asleep and the next morning waiting for Shuichi on time with a spare toast, 'So you won't steal mine.'

'But stealing is half the fun,' he said with a small smirk, but took it anyway, 'It's too good.'

She smiled to herself since it took her a while to come up with the right combination honey-garlic spread for it to taste delicious. Her good mood didn't last long though as right off the bat, she was sure she caught one of the boys from yesterday.

'Relax,' whispered Shuichi into her ear before he led her into their classroom.

She was about to tell him that she couldn't before she realized just how relaxed and calm about the whole thing he was acting. Yesterday, he was clearly upset with those boys. He pushed the other one off her used that scary voice, but now he looked as if nothing happened. Like he couldn't be bothered by it when Nana knew for a fact, Shuichi was never good with people threatening her. More times than she could count he shoved or bit someone who was being mean to her, and she saw how protective he was of her after what happened with her mom.

This didn't make sense, and even less so when a couple of days later she and Shuichi came to face with one of those delinquents that were with jerk-face.

He rose his head looked at them, and then looked away. Just like that without a single word or sense of recognition, he just looked away from them.

Even if he no longer felt the need to harass them, wouldn't he at least know who they were? Nana found it more than strange.

When a couple of weeks later, the jerk-face who talked about her mom didn't even look at her or acted weird-out by Shuichi, she added this whole incident to a pile of things she silently listed inside her mind as Shuichi's big secret and moved on from it.

'Is there something on my face?' asked her best friend as he caught her staring at him the way she usually couldn't help but did whenever she added something to that pile. Shuichi told her many times she couldn't lie to him to save her life, so it made sense that subconsciously, she was creating a tell.

She brushed the back of her head chuckling a bit embarrassed before she leaned closer and imitated the girl from 1-B who showed up a week ago to confess that she liked him, 'I think you're very handsome, and-'

'Stop, please,' he sighed before he covered his face with his hands probably re-living the embarrassment all over again. Nana didn't want to be rude. The girl at least had the guts to come and talk to Shuichi even if she knew nothing about him just that she liked the way he looked.

The whole thing was really horrible as everyone stopped what they were doing and listen to the exchange while Nana could almost feel how awkward Shuichi felt about the whole incident before he politely let the girl down and returned to their desk where Nana silently patted his back in solidarity. Since then, she used the confession whenever she felt like bringing him mental pain or needed to get back at him for teasing her about something, and now to avoid suspicion apparently.

---

The morning was hectic, to say the least, with them starting a new school, Nana's delay, his mother's insistence that they take a picture, and finally the whole process of being selected into a class and the ceremony of the beginning of the year.

Kurama didn't like things to be hectic, but by now he was more accustomed to them than he had been in his previous life. In his previous life hectic could easily mean death while in the human world hectic was simply the way life sometimes was.

Nana was right about not entirely being at fault for her delay. They did stay up late to watch a horror movie in secret. One, which he found almost amusing as there was little in the human world let alone a fake movie that could scare him. If he really wanted to he would make a much better job in bringing fear into the hearts of innocent and weak morals than the ghost of the vengeful woman, but Nana swore that if he tried to scare her she would scream which would get them in trouble with her grandmother and his mother.

However, as they were waiting for their names to be said and for them to learn what class they would be attending even he had to admit he felt a slight worry anticipating if Nana and he would continue to be classmates. Luckily, they both ended up in 1-A, and when the raven-haired girl turned to him with a grin on her face, he was sincere when he returned it at least for the first few seconds before he spotted some of the senior boys sitting them in the gym whispering something to each other while pointing at them.

Kurama felt his instinct and suspicion get the best of him right before he felt a wave of anger as one of the boys loud and clearly mouthed Hinata Izumi.

'We should get our seats right after they let us go to classes,' whispered Nana into his ear her scent so close to his nose momentarily calming him down and reminding him, he couldn't and shouldn't act like he knew what those boys were talking about. He didn't really hear what they were saying, but the fact that they were talking about Nana's absent troublemaking mother was not a good sign.

He forced himself to look away from the boys knowing they wouldn't be able to see his frown and death glares from such a distance anyway.

When he looked at Nana, his face relaxed on its own before she would notice, and he offered her a nod, 'Good idea. Back row by the window?'

She agreed. It was their usual spot after all.

Right as they announced that the students should make their way into the classrooms, Kurama made sure he rushed Nana toward theirs avoiding the boys who tried but of course failed to reach them in time. They were ridiculous. What could they possibly want from his best friend? From the girl, he chose as a part of his human family? A girl he considered his? Did they expect he would allow them to get close to her with their filthy hands and ideas? They were children. They were nothing. And they certainly wouldn't get their hands on Nana if he had anything to say about the whole thing.

The day passed, and he sensed another weak yokai on their usual way home. It didn't happen too often so he didn't have to worry, but he rather stayed away from other of his kind in case they would draw attention to them of others, the hunters or Reikai. Not to mention, he didn't wish for any of them to catch Nana, his mother, or his own scent and follow them. He was nowhere near his previous strength, and with every year that passed adding to the years he was supposed to already be gone, his doubts about ever gaining back that strength grew. It was concerning, to say the least. He couldn't train and try to gain his abilities to the level they once were because it could have potentially guided other yokai and Rekai dogs toward him. It was a dilemma, and ever since he could remember, Kurama always found those rather frustrating.

When those pathetic human boys decided to harass him and Nana, it did nothing but added fuel to his frustration serving as a reminder that even if he was in Ningenkai, the potential danger was still around him. It wasn't a danger toward him as much as it was a nuisance. But to hear Nana's fearful heartbeat and those disgusting suggestions that the insect was telling her caused his blood to run cold and for his past self's held back instincts to arise.

He was different. Kurama knew he was. There was no point in trying to lie to himself and pretend that his time living with his mother and a human friend didn't soften him in ways other yokai would have found inferior and laughable. He wasn't proud of it, but he didn't feel as ashamed or embarrassed as he thought he would have felt if he was still the same yokai who left Makai. His human life and family were important to him now. It was his, and the possessiveness which he was known for always won over everything else. To have his friend, someone he put on the same pedestal as his beloved mother, he took as his own was forcing the worst of his previous animalistic yokai self to take hold of him. His human family was his most prized possession now, and no one was allowed to try and claim it without suffering the consequences.

'Let her go.'

The weak human didn't even know in how much danger he was as Kurama was certain, with the sheer rage he felt toward him for grabbing Nana let alone threatening her, he would have been probably able to break his wrist.

He almost had, but then he sensed Nana trying to get between them, and quickly took her hand to keep her behind him. He didn't want her to see the look on his face that seemed to intimidate the other boys. He didn't want to scare her too just protect her.

Instead, he drained something from her presence to calm himself enough so he wouldn't hurt those pathetic boys. At least not now. Despite their disgusting ideas and intimidation, they were children. They could still learn and become better.

Once they left, Kurama once again felt the same resentment he always did when dealing with Hinata Izumi. It seemed whenever the woman appeared or was mentioned it caused nothing but problems for Nana which wasn't something he took lightly even after he gained his memories back. In fact, if it was possible, now he felt almost compelled to find the woman and make sure she would never waltz into his friend's life ever again.

But of course, just like Nana and her grandmother, Kurama didn't know where the woman was, and the city was too big. For now, all he could do was to offer Nana some comfort and take her troubled mind away from this incident by promising it would be alright.

'You can't promise that,' she argued although he could see it in her eyes, she didn't mean it. Nana knew him well enough to know, he didn't make empty promises, and he knew her well enough to know she would cave toward the idea that he would be able to protect her from those nobodies.

Either she believed or simply humored him for now, but eventually, they made it home to talk about their days leaving the incident after they got ice cream as their secret.

His mother was thrilled discussing and debating about everything looking far more energetic than she had a couple of days ago which meant only one thing.

'She has a new suitor,' he whispered not bothering to hide his annoyance in front of his best friend, who at least tried to hide her chuckle with her hand, 'Yeah, I thought so. She was practically floating.'

Kurama shot Nana a look, but he held no real anger behind it since he knew Nana was in no way to be blamed.

'Oh, come on, don't be like that. Shiori-san is a very pretty woman and still young,' Nana reminded him as she usually did before nudging his side with her elbow, 'The new guy might be even a very much needed male role model in your life.'

He purposely reached into her hair messing it up, 'You only know that phrase because I explained it to you.'

'Hey!' she tried to shove him away unsuccessfully and too late. Her hair was already a mess and needed fixing. It was good that he managed to get her mind off the incident, he already had a plan about what he would do about it later, so she didn't need to worry her little head. As for his mother's new admirer, he would have to wait a bit to meet the man to be able to assess the situation and decide if he was worthy of dating his mother. So far, no such man was found. They weren't all bad. But they were all unworthy or flat-out wrong for her.

Kurama took pleasure and pride in knowing his mother wasn't just profoundly good and kind, but also a very intelligent woman. However, when it came to these men, she tended to easily fall for their charm becoming blind to many of their flaws. Luckily, just as easily as she grew attached to them, she lost her interest in them once they were out of her life which helped convince himself, he made the right call by cashing them away in the first place.

If they were meant to be important, they wouldn't leave her no matter what.

At least, the yokai liked to think that.

When Nana finally fixed her hair, she turned to the wall to check the time, 'I'm going to have to go. Talk to you tomorrow, okay?'

He nodded before he pointed a finger at her and with a serious voice said, 'Don't be late. If you're not outside your house on time, I will leave you there, Nana.'

The girl's brown eyes rolled.

How rude!

'Don't act all mighty,' her lips split into a bright smile, he remembered so well from their childhood days playing at the playground outside her house, 'You would never leave me behind, Shuichi-kun.'

He didn't even bother coming up with a valid argument since it would be a lie all the same. She was right. He would never leave her behind. He couldn't which was why he spent some time with his mother and then went to sleep patiently listening to his mother's movement downstairs and then her footsteps upstairs until she had fallen asleep.

It wasn't too hard to find those delinquents. The unfortunate place they met seemed to their usual spot and so it made sense they would return there. They didn't expect to see him again, but only started to reek of fear as he got to work and one by one defeated them and forced their memories to change.

'Does she still live there?' Kurama asked the boy, who started this all claiming he lived close by Nana's mother and assumed she would be just as easy prey as she was. He kept this boy for last as he had him held down by vines he let his yoki grow and manipulate to restrict his victims. It wasn't anything too fancy, but for the human boys, it was enough to scare them senseless.

The boy shook ever since he first used his abilities. His whole body now stank of fear as he watched him with wide eyes knowing he didn't stand a chance. It was far too long since Kurama felt the fear of his prey like this knowing he was in control of its life and what would happen to it next. Despite the somewhat pleasant reminder of how things used to be before in Makai for his past self, now he couldn't help but feel uninterested in such dominance.

I allowed the human world to change me too much.

His mother

Nana

Inko, Nana's grandmother

They alerted his feelings, wants, and personality while still allowing him to keep some of his core ultimately creating a somewhat new person.

Not Yoko. Not Shuichi.

Just Kurama

'W-who?' asked the boy somehow finding his voice although it sounded far from the confident one he used on Nana earlier that day trying to intimidate her and shove her into submission.

Kurama pushed the anger that tried to arise as he remembered the incident away. He punished the boy enough. He would make sure he would never even dare to think about Hinata Nana let alone try to talk to her or hurt her.

'The woman you mentioned that lived close to you. Hinata Izumi,' explained the yokai with an expressionless face knowing it wouldn't be of any use if he showed the boy how much the woman caused his blood to boil, 'Does she still live there?'

His primary decision to hunt the boys down was to make sure they would never approach Nana again and find out who else knew about her mother to avoid any other such incidents. However, now that he did that, Kurama couldn't help but try to see if perhaps he wouldn't be able to get to Izumi as well.

The boy shook his head, 'N-no, I… she's gone. One night, she stole some money from the guy she was living with and left. B-but-but if you want, I can ask about her…I can find her for you. Please, just-just don't hurt me…please, I will do anyth-,' his pathetic attempt at a bargain was cut by one of the vines Kurama shifted to cover his mouth with.

No, he didn't really want to find Nana's mother. For the last almost three years, she stayed away from the girl, and Nana rarely if ever mentioned her. Unless she would try to make contact again, Kurama had no real reason except for his anger toward the woman to hunt her down. For now, he would allow her to carry on with her pathetic life if only because she did give birth to his human friend.

Kurama's feet moved toward the human boy, who began to cry fearing the worse while he shifted his yoki to create a small purple flower to erase and alter the boy's memories just as he had the others.

It took longer than Kurama would have liked, but it was mostly because he didn't have to deal with such things until now, maybe it would have been good if he started to train a bit if only to have things done quicker in the future. For now, he was certain Nana was safe. No one else knew about her mother, and he learned that there wasn't any other group in school that would cause trouble than the four boys.

He could have headed straight home, but instead, the redheaded yokai made his way toward Nana's house first. Unlike his, her house didn't have a second floor and Nana's bedroom was a small room on the left side close to the kitchen which helped to keep it warm during winter. He knew the layout of her house by heart even before he gained the memories of his previous life back. Her house was older than his filled with much more traditional and old outdated furniture, but also much warmer and somewhat cozier. Of course, he preferred his own house and bedroom since they were his, but he still enjoyed spending time in Nana's room with her scent and the smell of whatever tasty food Inko was preparing. In a way, he often felt nostalgic in Nana's house the same way he sometimes felt about Makai.

Without a single sound to spare, Kurama walked toward the window knowing Nana's bed was directly under it.

The girl was asleep with a part of her face buried into the pillow her breath even, her body relaxed and her feature calm. It was a lovely sight if he was being honest with himself. He was grateful that despite today's incident Nana took his words to heart and managed to find peace to sleep properly. It would also improve their chances of being on time tomorrow.

It had been almost two years since he made the decision to stay here and carry on his human life with his mother and best friend. He didn't regret his decision or think about it. He was always the type of person to put thought into every one of his decisions, and so it would be pointless to question them later. His human life was good. Better than he had hoped. Better than he should have deserved. In Makai concept of family and friendship wasn't as profound or important as it was in the human world. Such things were considered a weakness, and a yokai of strength and reputation such as him could only hope for alliance or companionship or nothing at all. For as long as the yokai could remember, it was enough. He had both of those things, and he never cared for more. Why should he? He was more interested in heists and robberies. His thirst for anything never really went beyond those things. They seemed to have been the most essential things in his life for so long he couldn't even recall if he ever wished or had anything or anyone beyond that.

His hand pressed against his heart where he could feel the steady rhythm.

No, he didn't

He couldn't recall his parents if he ever had any to begin with, but all he could remember was the urge to possess more and greater things than he already had, ready to betray and double-cross whoever he needed in order to gain them.

Kurama never felt the need to protect anyone the way he did the people who were now in his life. He never wanted to bring happiness to anyone else than himself the way he wanted to bring to his mother by being a good son and studying and Nana by being a good friend and spending time with her.

He never would have imagined to even have such urges and feelings let alone to enjoy doing both of those things for the people he cared about.

Cared about

Loved

Family

His feelings were new to him, but after the initial decision to stay and allow them to carry on and grow, he didn't find them repulsive or frightening. Perhaps, it was his human side that outbalances to yokai one that helped him to achieve this peace of mind. He hoped it would last.

For as long as he would have his family

Fuku, Nana's trustful black cat, woke up from its spot by her legs carefully sitting up to look his way. Sometimes, the yokai wonder if the cat secretly could tell he was different, but since it allowed him to pat her all the same, it didn't really matter.

Kurama pressed a finger against his lips as if the ask the cat not to wake Nana up. The cat must have decided to follow through with the request as it lowered itself back to the place, it usually slept but kept its yellow eyes still on him with an expression that was just as hard to read as some of his own.

'Good night, Nana,' he wished her, 'Rest freely, I promise to keep you safe.'

---

Shuichi's big secret was a pile of incidents, strange behavior, and quirks Nana had noticed about him throughout the years, all of which she believed would, in the end, form this grand explanation to his behavior, character, and reveal whatever he was really hiding from her.

For as long as she knew the boy, he was always a bit different in comparison to other kids.

As a child, she didn't really give his odd habits or behavior much thought. He was her friend, so it really didn't matter to her if he liked her to wear his clothes or toss around in his bed if he was clingy about things he considered his, if he didn't tolerate people being mean toward her, or if he thought people smelled funny and were too loud.

In her childlike mind, Nana figured it made him fun to be around and that as long as he was kind and a good friend to her, she would treat him the same way regardless of his occasional strangeness and wild behavior. Besides, he had too many good and normalike qualities, and she knew she was sometimes a bit odd herself mixing tastes others found incompatible, preferring pants and shorts over skirts, uniforms, and dresses, avoiding conversations about her mom and the way they used to live. People came in different shapes and in different characters. It would have been pretty dull if they didn't.

However, over time, Nana started to divide between the quirkiness of the people around her and Shuichi's mysterious behavior. It was subtle of course. Everyone would have noticed if he did something absolutely crazy like walk around naked, set things on fire, or talk backward. No, the little things that Shuichi did were subtle as the years went by that by the time, they reached middle school, most of the people assumed the strange behavior was something he grew out of. But of course, most of the people weren't Hinata Nana, who knew him for so long, it was almost impossible to imagine there was a time, she didn't spend almost every day in his company.

If she would have to pinpoint the moment, she took notice, it would be shortly after their tenth birthday. They were supposed to walk to school like any other day, but for some reason, he was late. Nana wasn't sure why but the whole concept of him being late for some reason stuck in her mind and further spread into her theory that something was wrong based on his strange-well stranger than usual behavior. He seemed different, but not in a sense that he was acting like he became someone else, but more like he was acting more than himself than usual. She couldn't explain it other than since that day it was as if Shuichi's personality and behavior fit him like a glove where before it was more than a bit bigger always sticking out oddly.

Something happened that day or maybe the day before, but since Shuichi kept on insisting nothing was wrong with him, Nana didn't push it. He was still Shuichi so what did it matter? If it was really important, and it bothered him, she would like to think he would tell her. Even if a small part of her knew he probably wouldn't just so that he wouldn't worry her. Sometimes she did that too when she didn't confide in him about a bad dream or memory about her mother. She didn't want him to worry either, and maybe she also wanted something like a secret to hold on to the same way he held onto his. It seemed only fair that she would.

Despite how close they were, she knew there were things Shuichi didn't talk about often or ever. It was probably because of how poorly she handled when he tried to talk about them the first time confessing that maybe he would become someone else and what would she do if he would no longer be friends with her if he did. But every time she tried to give in to guilt, she chased such an idea away. She knew Shuichi well enough to know that if he did consider she failed him in any way, he would stop being friends with her. He didn't let people in easily. Those who he did he held at a higher level than the rest of the world and protected in any way he could. But if those people would betray or fail him, he would cut them loose. This was something Nana knew and understood better than anyone. It wasn't cruel. At least she didn't think of it as such. She thought it was simple survival and life something she learned well when dealing with her mom.

She noticed a lot of things throughout the years. He was more in control now, but there were still glimpses of somewhat wild instincts. Whenever they teased each other, and she pressed too hard she noticed the way his irises changed shape as if he was an animal ready to attack. He was always a bit more mature than kids their age, but ever since that day, it seemed he had somehow gained even more age furthermore making him stand out from the crowd. The way he talked changed a bit too. His voice seemed calmer and more confident when he spoke even though the difference was barely noticeable Nana caught it. She noticed how more often than not he paused in his actions not to change his decision about doing something, but as if to control his reaction and outbursts. Luckily, that only seem to stick around others since she had a gift for pushing his stiffness and serious nature aside. But the thing she noticed the most was the way he watched her. It wasn't that he was staring at her directly. But even if his eyes were at their sensei, or they were playing a game, where he should have focused more on his controller, Nana could tell that he was looking at her without actually looking. It was as if he was taking in her presence somehow. Sometimes before he asked or said something and other times maybe to see her reaction toward something, but either way, Nana caught onto those moments wondering why he wouldn't just directly look at her instead.

She didn't understand it all, but deep in her heart and mind Nana was positive it all somehow added up into this Shuichi's Big Secret. She believed that if someday she would figure it out or he would tell her she would go all ah, of course, now it all made sense and feel a bit silly for not seeing it sooner, but for now all she could do was wait and add discoveries and strange occurrences until then.

For example, even if now she now as she wanted nothing more than to wait for Shuichi to come back and ask him about what was happening inside his closet, she knew she couldn't.

Thirteen-year-old Nana blinked as she noticed the blanket at the bottom of Shuichi's closet while she was looking for a sweater to wear. They were going to watch a movie together when all of the sudden she felt chilly inside his room.

Shiori-san called Shuichi downstairs probably to go bring up some snacks, and Nana figured he never really minded, in fact, he encouraged her to wear his clothes before, so he would most likely not mind now either.

She kneeled on the floor to take a better look at the items inside the blanket. It seemed to be tugged around them as if for protection or maybe so that Shiori-san wouldn't notice them. Still, it was true that just as Nana's granny gave her more responsibilities and independence so did Shuichi's mom so maybe she didn't even go to his closet at all anymore and didn't know about these things.

There were a few items inside the blanket. The first thing that struck her was her green ribbon, which Shuichi had stolen from her hair back in elementary school and never gave back. She remembered she was a bit upset but still quickly forgot about it since she started to wear her hair in a single ponytail with the remaining green ribbon holding it together. Shuichi never made any comment about the ribbon he stole back then, so maybe Nana assumed he even lost it or threw it away. She was too old for two ponytails anyway, and occasionally Shuichi still teased her by pulling her hair or playing with the ribbon she still had so perhaps he liked her new hairstyle too.

Yet, she didn't think that he would keep the other ribbon since Shuichi was a stubborn minimalist who refused to horde things no matter how much Nana begged him to keep them. She had tones of her old clothing, old movie tickets, and other junk, she had to protect from the redhead whenever he showed up because he was determined to throw it all away, however, here he was with his little stash of belongings and mementos. She felt almost gleeful and mischief while looking at them wondering how would he react if he found out she knew. Would he be embarrassed? Would his cool façade fade as he would babble out an excuse? She wasn't a wicket person, but even Nana had to admit it would be fun to watch her red-haired always in control friend sweat a bit.

Apart from the green ribbon, there was also a single old sweater. It was also green with red dots that she recognized it as the one she often wore whenever she came here, and Shuichi had his bizarre obsession with her wearing some of his clothes because she didn't smell like him and his mom. It was also the reason, he liked to lay in her bed and forced her to lay in his so often.

There was also a scarf and a handkerchief, she didn't recognize at all, but since the embroidery of a little bird looked beautiful, she assumed it could belong to Shiori-san.

There was one of his old winter gloves, she was sure he wore when they were younger.

And a little plushie of an unknown animal, she was more than sure she gave to Shuichi when she was younger and felt like giving him something of hers.

However, what really confused her was her old recipes notebook.

She tried not to really move anything around because even if Shuichi wouldn't see her, she had a strange feeling he would know she was snooping around his closet, but with the notebook, the raven-haired girl couldn't help herself.

Her granny gave it to her after she started elementary school to write recipes, she would find interesting and want to try out. She had it for a couple of years and filled up all pages until she got to the point of getting a new one. Then Nana rewrote recipes she didn't know by heart into a new bigger notebook Shuichi gave her for one of her birthdays and left the old one somewhere in her bookcase.

At least if anyone asked her, she would tell them it was there, but clearly, it wasn't. Shuichi was good at stealing things. She noticed this when they were younger. It wasn't that he wanted to hurt anyone by taking their things. It was mostly for fun. She knew it wasn't good, but if he returned them or the things held no real value, she didn't find it completely horrible either.

Nana wasn't upset he took the notebook per se. If he would ask for it, she would probably give it to him since she never really had any feelings of possession and was often happy to give him something of hers. She wasn't upset, but she was definitely confused and curious about the whole thing.

If she stayed like this, sitting by his open closet with her notebook in her hands when Shuichi returned, what would he do? Would he confess? Would he make an excuse? Would he reveal his secret?

Why did he have these things? Were they just mementos? If so why hide them?

Her brown eyes fixed on the notebook for a second before she sighed and returned it into the nest in the blanket, right to the same spot, she found it in.

No, it wouldn't be good to force him to tell her like that.

The girl didn't know why he had it all there, but between all those strange things she knew about him, it didn't really surprise her all that much. It just made her puzzled.

However, she would like to think they had a good relationship and friendship, and that when he figured out it was something he needed to tell her, he would.

Nana closed the closet door not feeling all that cold anymore. She managed to get on the bed and act as normal as possible before Shuichi came in with some plates and the movie they would watch. Shiori-san bought him a few for his birthday a few months ago.

When he came into the door, he didn't look at the closet. Anyone else by now would have felt pretty secured about their secret stash, but of course, those people weren't Minamino Shuichi. Nana was more or less sure, he either knew or would know once he opened the closet that she was inside and saw the things in the blanket. Still, she doubted he would confront her about it. For now, at least until he was ready, she had to accept the fact that she wouldn't be a part of her best friend's biggest secret. She would be lying if she didn't admit that it hurt just a little bit.

---

Their time in middle school, except for that one incident, seemed to have been almost as uneventful as their time in elementary school. Although, there were still things Kurama had yet to learn or get acquaintance with in the human world more often than not he found the experience rather dull. Learning new information and subjects was at least stimulating and interesting and playing new games definitely satisfied his competitive side that craved to be better than the rest. Even living with his human family offered him comfort and happy memories that he felt grateful for even if he still found it hard at times to feel worthy of them.

However, human drama and many of the interactions he had to suffer through with the outsiders of the family he accepted as his, were utterly dreadful and almost painfully insufferable.

It started sometime during their last year at their elementary school.

Nana was completely obvious to the change at first or perhaps she knew it was wiser not to tease him about it back then as he found it beyond horrible and annoying. It started with their classmate, Rin. He was lucky enough that the girl was too embarrassed to approach him or try to express her feelings, but given how she went from acting no different than anyone else to a horribly awkward rambling and blushing mess, he was certain everyone knew about her crush. He knew what the word meant before of course, but only once the victims of this phenomenon started to add to their ranks did Kurama grow a certain resentment toward it. Even when he was younger, he and his mother would get praises about how handsome and pretty he was often mistaking him for a girl which made it worse and a bit humiliating if he was being honest. However, after they entered middle school, it seemed every other girl younger or older in their school had been trying to secretly watch him which of course wasn't secret at all with the way they started to giggle or whisper something to each other. It was a bother, yes, but if they only had stuck with carrying their crushes in the distance, he would probably manage to find some peace with it. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and somewhere during the first couple of months, the girls started to try and approach or openly confessed their feelings. He was an over thousand-year-old yokai, and yet he felt beyond embarrassed by these encounters almost to the point he was sure the hair on the back of his neck started to stand up when he sensed another was about to happen.

It didn't help that Nana took a liking to them mercilessly teasing him about them.

The perks of having a best friend, he supposed.

But no matter how annoying, Kurama found it, it was only fair. If it was Nana who would suffer from such things, he would tease her just as well.

In the end, after every embarrassing and awkward confession, the poor yokai would push himself to calmly let the girls down explaining he didn't feel the same despite the fact that he found the whole concept horribly uncomfortable. They were still children after all, and despite his yokai nature, he did accept some of the human world morals as his own. Not to mention they didn't even know him. Not the real him. He could understand the need to want something based on its beauty, he was once the greatest thief after all, but even so, the situation was too much a nuisance to find anything positive and worth applauding for toward the girls who approach him.

Apart from Nana, who usually patted his back with somewhat of sympathy before she made him relive the whole affair by her teasing, it seemed the whole school knew about every one of these happenings. As much as he wished it could have been avoided, Kurama knew that sooner or later it would result in some sort of middle school drama that his raven-haired best friend would found hilarious.

'Oi, Minamino,' said one of his classmates as they were changing their clothes after gym class, 'I heard a girl from 3-B came to talk to you today.'

Apparently, such day was that day as they were a couple of months into their last year of middle school, right after gym class trying to change as soon as possible to make it into their next class in time.

The yokai knew better than allow some kids to have the satisfaction of seeing his frustration with another girl approaching him and causing him to feel comfortable. He knew better than that, and he rarely allowed anyone to see what he really was thinking. Nana seemed to be the only exception. Probably because he knew her the longest and his body and previous only human self had made an everlasting association of peace and safety with her presence. He was always alerted of course, but it happened quite a few times that the only times he managed to relax was when Nana was around, and he knew he could. Even with his mother he often felt like there was a certain façade to hold since they weren't on the same status. They were a parent and a child after all. But with Nana, it often felt like they were equals. Both young, both friends, both the same.

'Hm, yes, she did.'

A lot of times, it helped that he was a very strict and as Nana put it politely cold person. People knew when to stop talking to him seeing that it would be no use to get him to engage in a friendly conversation. A lot of times it was because the conversation held no interest of his and was a waste of time. However rude it might have seemed, he often found it insignificant to talk with other humans apart from those he claimed as his family. Logically, he knew others might provide more stimulating conversations since despite her maturity Nana from time to time acted very much like a girl her age while his mother and Inko-san showed little interest in things he found alluring. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to do so. Sometimes when he cut interaction with other people short, Kurama wondered if it wasn't another trait, he gained by being born and raised in the human world for ten years before he got his memories back.

Loner

He simply didn't feel the need to expand the circle of people he held dear and wanted to spend his time with. If he wasn't with them, he preferred to be alone, and many people sooner or later caught onto that purposely leaving him alone. At least expect for the girls who had their insufferable crushes on him.

'Man, all the girls are into you,' whined the boy pressing his forehead against his locker.

He offered him an apologetic look, but he decided not to comment on the statement since he knew the boy liked the girl who came to confess to him. He noticed him try and talk to the girl often in the hallways.

'Well, not all,' commented Matsuda fixing his glasses, 'Hinata-san and you are friends, right? She doesn't really seem like she has a crush on you.'

Kurama turned toward his classmate and nodded trying to catch any hints as to why he would mention Nana. Apart from the incident at the beginning of their 1st year in middle school and what happened with her mother, Nana thought she was usually not in the center of attention of people and boys. At least not the same way he was. Perhaps true back then, but once they turned thirteen especially after the summer break, the yokai caught more than a few boys from their school stealing glances at her or fully staring. He supposed it was natural as they all slowly matured and changed. Unlike him who could somewhat keep himself levelheaded despite the chemical reactions of his hormones and pre-teen body, other children their age seemed at times to get hopelessly controlled by them.

Nana was growing up as well. She was getting taller but now remained at a slower pace which he secretly took pleasure in as it meant he could easily top over her. It annoyed her to great lengths. She was slowly filling out in her curves and losing the last of her baby fat although it seemed she would still keep her round cheeks something he found adorable and hoped she would keep as it always made her face appear soft and kind especially when she smiled in that bright way of hers.

'Wait, aren't you cousins?' asked Kubo sounding surprised, 'Nana talked once about her granny and how you go there after school is over.'

Kurama raised his brows surprised by the assumption, 'That's true. We go to her house to do our homework after school, but we're not cousins. We're just close. We're childhood friends since we were four.'

His eyes shifted for a moment to Matsuda who now seemed upset for some reason.

Kubo made an understanding face while another classmate chipped in, 'Makes sense me and this girl I met in kindergarten still meet up every Sunday even if she goes to a private middle school.'

'Seriously?' asked Kubo.

'Yup,' said the boy and then began to explain some of the things they do on their Sundays which were more or less typical activities he and Nana do as well.

'It's kind of awesome to be friends with someone for that long. They're a bit special and know you better,' finished the boy or so Kurama thought before he heard him laugh a bit, 'But it can be embarrassing too like our dads always joke about the time we said we would marry each other.'

Kurama stopped putting on his shoes as he recalled a similar moment in his childhood as well.

'What? Hold it. How old were you?' asked Kubo shocked while the other boy let out an embarrassing sound, 'Like four or five. It was so lame. Ah, Minomino-san knows what I'm talking about.'

He blinked and looked over at them catching the now shocked look on Matsuda's face since pretty much every one of their classmates was now staring at him. As the conversation got him to go down the memory lane and recall the snowy day, he gave Nana his glove since hers had a hole inside it, he failed to keep a hold of his expression. It was either Sanada was good at reading people, or he made a guess, or Kurama truly gave something away.

It wouldn't be too hard not to answer or lie. He would even be able to do so in a way everyone would believe it, but for some reason, his eyes moved to Matsuda's, and he decided otherwise smiling and in a humoral way before he explained, 'Yes, it's a bit silly, but also nice in a way to know who you will marry one day.'

He wouldn't say his decision surprised him. He almost never did things without thinking them through especially ever since he received his memories back. But after seeing the outcome his decision to mess with Matsuda was a bit childish. It seemed pointless to play such games. He wasn't a little boy, and he most certainly wasn't jealous.

So why did he…

The other boy didn't give him the pleasure to see his disappointment or anger as he quickly turned toward his locker to hide his face. Kurama didn't really care what the other boys thought or did afterward, so he just proceeded to get ready and left the room to meet up with the raven-haired girl who was waiting for him already jokingly asking if something happened in the boys' locker since he came out so late.

'Nothing important,' he denied before he thought about it and admitted, 'Sanada-san also has a childhood friend since he was four though.'

Nana smiled upon hearing that and they talked about some of their childhood memories on their walk home in a good mood due to their bursts of laughter that startled quite a few people passing them by.

The next day Nana commented that Matsuda looked sort of upset with her, but only because she was pressing her shoulder against Kurama while he was writing down equations trying to explain to her their newest math topic.

'Don't mind him,' he said casually, and then tapped the pencil against the blank page, 'Focus on this.'

Focus on me

His own possessiveness caught him off guard. It wasn't like Nana was especially interested in the boy. She never paid much attention to him and only noticed him now because he seemed angry, so why would he act in such a way?

She didn't seem to glance the other boy's way after that and seemed to even stay somewhat oblivious to the glares or looks of other girls. Nana wasn't dense, but often she seemed to be in her own world full of new recipes, new movies, less homework, and their family. If he was honest with himself, he liked her all the more when she was like that. She was a bit too careless for her own good. It made him feel that somewhat both of them could be pieces of a puzzle that didn't completely fit into this human world.

It wasn't until a day later that things took a different turn when a piece of paper fell out from Nana's locker as she went to put on her outdoor shoes, 'Uh?'

She crouched down and took it looking around confused before she opened it while he glanced over her shoulder to read it.

You're stealing him away. Why won't you die already you stupid bitch?

He frowned feeling a sense of hot anger creep into his chest. It should have happened sooner, but it was possible until now no one was upset enough to think anything sinister toward Nana.

Without a single word, she crushed the paper in her fist and started to shake, 'Nana-?'

His concern didn't last long as he quickly realized she was laughing. Her hand pressed against her lips to cover it while she slid to the side of the lockers clearly finding the idea that she was stealing Kurama from whoever was behind the letter a top joke. He knew it was because she found the whole concept of him having that many admirers, who embarrassed and made him feel uncomfortable hilarious.

'Stop it,' he ordered her avoiding the curious looks of the other students, 'It's not that funny.'

She spun around letting out a few last giggles before she raised her brows at him giving him a look. His own lips broke into a small smile, he only allowed it because it was for her before he returned to his own locker, 'Someone has too much time on their hands that's all.'

She put on her shoes and tossed the note into the nearest trashcan, 'Don't be like that. At least now I know what it's like to get a note from a secret – well hater?'

He glanced away from her refusing to comment until he felt Nana jump him from behind her hands around his neck, 'Come on. It was funny. I'm not upset. So don't be either.'

Her nose brushed his cheek as if she was trying to warm the spot up. He noticed an old woman giving them a nasty look that made him realize it probably didn't look good that Nana was this close to him.

The yokai quickly pulled her hands away from him and glanced at her with a calm look, 'You're right. I'm not upset.'

Anyone else would have bought it, but Nana eyebrow twitched, and her own lips remained pressed into a tight line, 'I will be fine. Give me a moment.'

She seemed to accept that and remained walking close but also at an appropriate distance so there weren't any other nasty looks from elderly citizens.

He pushed his free hand into his pocket recalling the conversation in the locker room which started all of this. It seemed like a mistake that he let his momentary need to prove Nana was closer to him than she could be to anyone else cloud his judgment. It wasn't good that some girls would now target her and pick up on her. Especially, when there was no reason for that other than their own insecurities and jealousy.

It probably didn't help the matter that Nana in her oblivious and carefree nature simply acted the way she always did toward him. She didn't mind reaching out and touching him, pressing close to him, speaking her mind, or acting in other ways outsiders would find too familiar. It was true that someone could potentially see it as inappropriate and beyond friendship, but in his own mind, Kurama never assumed such a thing. She was his closest human friend. Her words and actions held no other intentions than that of a friend. Just as he felt nothing more for her than innocent affection and care that he also felt for his mother and Nana's grandmother.

'Do you remember when we were younger, we agreed to marry once we grow older?' he asked seemingly casually in the middle of the street turning to look at her.

'What?!' she shrieked, with her brown eyes wide open and barely visible her face slowly turning from the slightly pinkish blush across her cheeks to a massive tomato red color covering her entire usually slightly darker than pale face.

It didn't help that it was so close to the summer and that the air was warming up as well.

'Why would you ask such a thing?' she asked waving her hands in front of her face to calm herself down, 'That's so stupid and…and embarrassing! D-don't ever say anything like that again.'

He blinked dumbfounded by her reaction before she started to fast walk leaving him behind to watch her go before he finally started to chase after her. He expected her to either get embarrassed or laugh it off. Maybe even not remember it at all. He didn't think it would upset her or make her blush. He wasn't sure how to proceed with her reaction.

It made him wonder. Could it be that Nana also shared such feelings as the other girls? If he was being completely honest with himself such an idea never occurred to him. He never viewed Nana the same way he had those airheaded girls in school. She was his friend, a part of his family, if he was still a full yokai regardless of his preference for solitude, her status and closeness would make her a part of his pack even if he had yet to decide what place she would hold there. She was still a youngling in his eyes even if such an obstacle meant little to yokai back then. Somewhere in his early days, he didn't really care much for how old were the humans or yokai he murdered to get what he wanted, to survive.

They got to Nana's house and worked on their homework before Nana started to make dinner. Tomorrow was Sunday, so they would have some time to study then even if Nana would rather slack off. Soon summer break would come, but afterward, they would need to prepare for their entrance exams. His mother already suggested a few schools. Most of which were in the district. Some of which were more expensive and better orientated for a more successful future. She told him kindly she would leave the decision to him, but even now Kurama knew he would focus mostly on the top three schools. He wanted to make his mother proud. He owed Shiori to do his best and achieve everything she had hoped for him even if it meant he and Nana would no longer stay classmates-

'Here try it,' Nana said and lifted the spoon for him to taste the sauce. Ever since Kurama could remember, the girl was fascinated with cooking the same way he was with botany. Often, he started a food-related topic if only to see her brown eyes shine with a twinkle of absolute heavenly happiness while her lips formed that sunflower smile, he enjoyed watching so much. People and yokai alike were always their most beautiful selves when they were thinking or talking about their passions.

Nana's hand was lifted with the spoon waiting for him to try it out. She liked to experiment and except for a few colossal missteps usually, she always good it to great results. What she lacked in school-related studies she more than made up for in cooking.

Now as she was waiting for him, she did so casually probably expecting him to take the spoon with his own hand. However, with a little experiment in mind, Kurama leaned closer to her and licked the spoon clean. Their faces were very close and when he lifted his eyes back to Nana's brown eyes, he found her staring. Of course, whatever puppy love look he expected wasn't there. Instead, his friend raised her brows with a look of intense anticipation, 'Well, what do you think?'

No, she didn't have a crush on him.

Whatever brought her odd reaction to the question about marriage wasn't related to a crush. Not even his raven-haired best friend would be that dense in this.

Interestingly enough the conclusion that Nana didn't have a crush on him as any other girl from class would have turned red like a tomato if he appeared this close in front of their faces didn't grant him relief or joy. It puzzled him. Did Nana perhaps not find him as handsome and lovable as the other girls? It shouldn't matter really. In fact, it was the best resolution to the situation. However, for some impossible to explain the reason, Kurama found the whole thing-

'Bitter,' he mumbled, and Nana's face twisted with a confused frown, 'Really? Maybe I can add cinnamon.'

She carried on while he returned to his spot by their kitchen table trying to figure out why the situation bothered him before he finally let it go as momentary insanity. His mind might have been old and wise, but it appeared his pre-teen body could mix the cards a bit. He could only hope he would be able to better control it in the future.

---

'Hey,' said Shuichi calmly as he tapped Nana's forehead bringing her out of her spacing out to reality which was sadly them doing more studying in his room. It was Sunday, and Nana hoped she would get away with some slacking off, but of course, the ultimate nerd declared that they needed to make sure they would do well on the midsemester finals.

Sighing, she brushed her forehead and glanced down at her exercise book before she looked back at him. Something was bothering him. He didn't show it. In fact, anyone else would have assumed he was perfectly fine, but Nana knew better. His shoulders were a bit stiffer, and he wouldn't look her into the eyes for longer than necessary. Something was up with Shuichi, and it had been since yesterday. She figured it was still about the hate note she received from Achido. If she was planning to change her writing she wasn't very good at it, and Nana noticed the girl seemed awfully crossed with her during lunch break mumbling something and mentioning her name to her other friends. She suspected it would be because of Shuichi, but she didn't think she would go as far as do something and leave evidence.

'Let's play twenty questions,' she said all of the sudden and pressed her hand against Shuichi's exercise book, so he would have to look at it.

For a second, he frowned, but when he looked up at her his face was calm almost careless, and very much fake, 'We should carry on so we can finish sooner.'

'I need a break. Come on, we haven't really played it before,' she said staring into his eyes with a hopeful look behind hers while trying to imitate a little sad puppy.

He watched her for a moment, and Nana could see the moment she broke him before he said, 'Alright, but ten questions and no stalling. Once the questions are done, we carry on.'

She pretended to pout slightly, 'The game is called twenty questions, not ten, Shuichi-kun.'

He gave her a look, and she knew he was about to take his words back, so she quickly grabbed his hands in hers, 'NO! Wait! I accept and no stalling. I promise.'

He shook his head as she let go of him and pressed her back further against the chair pulling her knees toward her chest, 'Who should start?'

'It's your game,' he said as he pressed his chin against his palm against the table seemingly bored.

She knew she couldn't start right away with what she really wanted to know so she tried something neutral like what, 'Alright, if you have to pick between ramen or udon?'

He gave her a look that could be interpreted as that's your first question but didn't make the mistake of asking since he would lose his own question.

'Ramen. Why do you keep making the same mistake in the last equation?' he asked in a heartbeat, and Nana groaned leaning so far back against the chair the two wooden legs almost lost its balance if it wasn't for Shuichi quickly grabbing it and bringing the chair and bringing all four legs back to the floor.

She sighed, 'Because I'm an idiot.'

He slightly frowned probably ready to call her out for both stalling and not answering truthfully before she confessed, 'Because I'm distracted.'

He opened his mouth as if he forgot himself but quickly closed it remembering it was her turn.

Nana glanced at her knees thinking for a second before she asked, 'We're not going to be in the same high school, are we?'

It took him a bit longer to answer this, 'No.'

When she looked at him his face was partly hidden behind his bangs and turned toward the desk instead of at her, 'Is that what's distracting you?'

'Not right now,' she admitted. It was something, she had been thinking about sometimes before falling asleep the way people do with things that only come to haunt them when they are trying to sleep. She knew since kindergarten that Shuichi was far more intelligent than her, and she knew since their last day of elementary school that someday he would get into much better schools than her. It was a sort of agonizing pain, mostly it was a dull one as Nana wanted nothing more for than to succeed in everything he wanted, move forward with his life and do something that made him happy.

'Does it bother you?' she asked knowing she was avoiding talking about the issue of their future schools because she knew it would make it all too real.

'Only when I think about it,' he said and looked at her. His expression was neutral but serious revealing it was something that upset him whenever he was thinking about it. She wanted to make her next question about it, but he gave her a free pass by saying, 'And I think about it often.'

Nana nodded glancing at their exercise books. She was nowhere near the finish of the first page while he was already somewhere in the middle. She was pretty sure he would be even able to finish sooner if he wasn't constantly helping her and nagging at her for being lazy.

'Why did you want to play this game?' he asked, and slightly tilted his head. If she would look at him, she was sure, his face would be unreadable, but his eyes would be observing every move of her features to be able to better tell what she was thinking.

'Sometimes,' she started not sure how to properly finish before she did, 'it feels strange to talk about some things. I don't know why. I wanted us to talk,' she finally dared to look at him, 'honestly.'

Something flashed across his eyes before he offered her a small smile as if to soften whatever caused him to harden just now. At that moment, Nana made the decision not to ask him about his big secret since she wanted them both to be honest, but at the same time, she didn't want to push him. Even if he would give in just so he wouldn't openly lie to her, Nana wouldn't like knowing his secret by forcing him. That didn't seem right.

She licked her lips deciding to finally ask what she wanted to know since they started the game, 'Are you still upset about the stupid note?'

'Partly, but not as much as I was yesterday,' he admitted, and she spoke without thinking as she understood what he was saying, 'So you're more upset about the marriage thing?'

His lips pulled into a quick smirk just as she pressed a palm against her mouth realizing it wasn't her turn, 'Yes, and now I get two questions.'

She sighed but nodded looking at him again as his smirk faded, 'Why did you act the way you did when I asked if you remember us talking about getting married when we were kids?'

Of course, he would purposely ask it like that.

'Because we're friends,' she shrugged her shoulders, 'And people sometimes say things like… It's so cute that you're childhood friends. And isn't Shuichi handsome, Nana-chan? Say, are you dating?' she asked changing her voice to sound like their annoying old neighbors with their creepy and suspicious smiles that sometimes stopped them to talk.

'It's just embarrassing and weird,' she looked away feeling stupid just for talking about it.

'You hate when people imply things?' he asked, and she glanced back at him blinking realizing he wasn't faking his puzzled voice.

Nana arched her eyebrow, 'Everyone does,' she said as a matter of fact before she tried to better explain what she personally felt, 'It's not just implying. It's…just annoying, and I know that it's just how they will always be assuming things or making jokes because we're friends and we're a boy and a girl, but it just really makes me feel ridiculed by them and then gets me to feel embarrassed and uncomfortable and like I want them to stop looking at me and leave. It just sucks really really badly.'

Shuichi gave her a surprised look that got a giggle out of her, 'Come one. It's not like a swore or something. Besides, why did it bother you how I acted?'

He must have known her question was coming but he still stayed quiet for a while as if he was considering how to start, 'Because I'm the idiot.'

Nana blinked almost asking what but stopped herself waiting if he would add anything more. She didn't think she ever heard Shuichi insult himself. Sometimes he partly admitted that he might have been wrong, but to full-on say something like that was really bizarre and made the girl really curious about what could this be about.

'A couple of days ago there was a chat in the boy's locker room, and I said some things out of…jealousy I guess,' he admitted and looked at her, 'You're very important to me. You're my best friend but more than that you're my only friend. Until that moment there never was an incident when I had to be worried that someone might come into your life who would be more important to you than me. I supposed I felt threatened even though it didn't make sense. And I will try not to act like a bigger idiot in the future. You deserve everything you could ever want and more, Nana,' he spoke without a single hesitation.

She didn't know why, but for a moment, she felt as if the whole world stopped and something very important shifted a little bit inside her chest creating an incredibly warm and chaotic sensation that somehow both scared and calmed her. Nana didn't have to dwell on it too long as Shuichi finished with, 'You're free to make how many friends you want and eventually marry whoever you want.'

She grimaced at the last part knowing it was childish but still feeling some of the same embarrassment she always felt whenever someone talked about such things.

'Y-you…Shuichi,' she wished her face didn't feel so uncomfortable hot as it did, 'You're important to me too. Special even. I could…I could never replace you,' she said not sure why it felt so hard to do so almost as if the words carried a weight of the world.

His lips pulled into the most delicate smile she ever saw, and his face visibly softened with a mixture of pleasant emotions. She knew he was touched which she found a bit ridiculous. Did he expect her to say something else after all this time? How could she see him as anything else than the wonderful friend he was?

The blissful look only seemed to last a moment as suddenly his eyes grew distant as if he remembered something unpleasant. He still carried on smiling, but it was obvious it was mostly for her benefit than anything sincere.

His hand reached out and very lightly he squeezed her shoulders, 'Thank you, Nana.'

It sounded almost like an apology. Maybe for all those other things he wished he could share with her but knew he couldn't. Things that were linked to his biggest secret.

It brought a sour taste into her mouth as she realized no matter how honest they could be with each other; they would never be completely open at least not until he would allow it.

She still smiled at him and nodded, 'You're welcome. Uh, do you still want to play, or should we carry on?'

Her finger tapped against her exercise book. She might not get into the same school Shuichi, but she could at least get into a decent-looking one. It wouldn't be the same, but they would still see each other pretty often. They would still be friends whether they would sit in the same classroom together or not.

He let her go and turned back to his notes. Of course, he wanted them to carry on with the torturous studying, but somehow Nana didn't mind it all that much now. Without the distraction in form of her worries about what was bothering him, she even managed to get quite far earning teasing praise. She took it knowing Shuichi wouldn't give it out if he didn't mean it.

Later she even found it a bit funny that Shuichi was jealous and worried that she would make friends with other people. She doubted she would. Most of the people didn't really enjoy talking about food and whatever she had to say, or at least that was how it always felt. And even if by some miracle she would manage to find some new friends, she couldn't imagine them meaning more to her than Shuichi did. In fact, Nana was pretty sure it wasn't humanly possible since, as Shuichi put it, they were family.

So whenever the girl thought about him being jealous she mentally chuckling wondering if her friend was maybe a bit less smart than she always gave him credit for. It wasn't until after the summer break and their entrance exams, the fourteen-year-old close to fifteen-year-old girl understood it.

Unlike in elementary school, Nana rarely interacted with her classmates. Apart from those who didn't like her because she spent too much time with Shuichi, she didn't really have a problem with them. She just tented to spent time with him because they were best friends and always seem to have something to do or say.

It was why it puzzled her when another girl from their class, Kitajima Maya, asked her to come to talk to her for a bit in the hallway.

Nana frowned a bit listening to the girl not sure what she was getting at and found it odd that she wanted to talk to her instead of Shuichi since she was pretty sure Kitajima also had a crush on him, 'Uh-'

'I like Minamino-san,' confessed the girl looking away almost shyly. It wasn't a shocking confession. Most of the girls in their grade and often younger or older graders had a crush on her best friend. Ever since she could remember people often commented on how handsome he was, so it wasn't much of a wonder why they felt this way about him.

What caused Nana to take a step back was the whole ordeal of one of the girls coming to her and telling her this. She wasn't sure what to make out of it and already had a pretty decent idea that she would all together hate it.

'Hey, did you hear about those two students who got abducted by aliens?' they heard one boy ask another as they were passing them so Nana waited a moment before she would respond to her classmate. It was about two weeks since strange rumors about aliens started to spread across their school after a couple of students went missing first solely and then a few days ago a pair of them. Some said it was maybe some elaborate prank. But they had a police officer come talk to their class about safety and were advised not to go out during dark hours.

'O-okay?' said the raven-haired girl uncertain hoping the girl didn't plan to ask for Nana's help on how to win Shuichi over because she was pretty sure even if Shuichi didn't mind Kitajima and maybe even consider her somewhat not as annoying as other girls who were crushing on him, he didn't feel the same-

'Tell me honestly, Hinata-san,' started Kitajima almost startling the other girl with how much more confidant she made it sound and looked at her with great determination behind her eyes, 'Do you…like him too?'

Nana's reply was almost automatic at this point as it wasn't the first time someone asked her this. Throughout the years, almost every one of their neighbors asked them something along those lines making assumptions and the both of them uncomfortable, 'He's my best friend. That's all.'

The other girl kept on looking at her as if trying to read her before she finally said, 'Then please, allow those of us who do like him to have a chance.'

'Huh?' asked Nana not even bothering to hide her confusion about her request.

Kitajima took a deep breath before she explained, 'You're always by his side making it impossible to approach him. I watched the two of you for a long time, and even if you're truly just friends your presence cuts any chance of anyone else getting close to him. So you should acknowledge that and step aside so someone who wants to might actually have a chance to win him and-'

'No,' said Nana not even letting the other girl finish before she walked around her and returned to the classroom sitting down next to Shuichi and offering a small smile with reassurance, she in no way felt inside her chest.

She didn't dare to turn around and see how Kitajima looked like. Instead, she kept her eyes on the blackboard or on Shuichi ignoring the panic and confusion that was slowly settling inside her mind realizing this must have been how Shuichi felt when he was jealous.

It made her feel selfish and that was not a nice way to feel. Her own response and reaction surprised her a bit.

What the hell was that?

Of course, she wouldn't just stop being friends with Shuichi because some girl wanted to have a shot, but she could have been nicer about it, or at least not to make it sound like she was selfish and didn't want anyone else to get close to Shuichi.

Carefully while biting her lip, she stole a glance of him while their sensei continued with the lesson.

He was her best friend.

You're free to make how many friends you want and eventually marry whoever you want.

She recalled what he told her a few months ago. He was right. Of course, he was right.

Her lips pulled into an unpleasant grimace as she realized just how annoying and unnerving the feeling of jealousy felt like inside her chest almost crushing it and making her feel like an idiot and very bad person.

'Hey, uh,' she whispered silently without looking at him, 'I forgot grandma wanted me to come home early today. She wasn't feeling too well.' It wasn't a complete lie. Lately, her grandmother was truly acting as an elderly person leaving more and more work on Nana's shoulders. She didn't mind it. The house wasn't big, and it was just the two of them, so it wasn't an impossible amount of work.

'I won't be able to stay for the cleanup here, is that alright?' she asked and carefully looked over at him wondering if he could see the guilt she felt about lying to him.

He watched her for a few moments no doubt reading her like an open book before he nodded and whispered back, 'Alright, I will come to your house later after I'm done.'

If Nana was hoping for relief to enter her heart, she was out of luck since his words left her feeling strangely cold and empty.

When she glanced to the side, she noticed Kitajima was looking at her. The other girl quickly looked away probably embarrassed she got caught, but then she looked back and offered Nana a small thankful smile.

The raven-haired girl didn't return it. In fact, she averted her eyes to the blackboard feeling even worse and hoping Shuichi would let the girl down almost painfully.

No, she didn't like this feeling inside her at all.

Once the class was over, she gathered her things and after Shuichi advised (read as ordered) her to stay home until he gets there, she left. Usually, she would smile and feel slightly warm knowing he cared and was worried about her and the disappearances, but today she felt no such thing.

The girl simply pushed one leg in front of the other and got home to prepare dinner and clean all the top and bottom shelves her grandma couldn't reach or couch to anymore.

'Is everything alright, Nana-chan?' asked her the elderly woman with a concerned look behind her kind eyes.

The girl shook her head and offered her a small smile to smooth her worries. She was being beyond ridiculous. It was obvious, Shuichi wouldn't reciprocate the other girl's feelings. Nana knew this. If he felt like that toward anyone, he would tell her, and either way, imagining Shuichi liking anyone was pretty hard if not completely impossible. Her best friend, bless his heart, was a loner, he found almost everyone besides people he took as his own as outsiders and therefore uninteresting or annoying. She couldn't imagine anyone who would manage to gain his attention let alone affection. It just seemed too surreal. So why did it bother her? Why did she feel so uneasy about the whole thing? Maybe because she tricked him into staying late so Kitajima could have an opening. She rarely if ever lie to him. Mostly, she just kept things she didn't want him to know or avoided them somehow. Like when her mom called a few months ago, and for the first time since she was ten, she decided to pick up the phone and talk to her. Or like how she was lucky to get into Takeuchi High School because she was so nervous, she flunked the entrance exams into her other two schools. They were embarrassing things she didn't even want to think about let alone talk out loud even with her best friend.

Still, she would be lying if she didn't admit the more time passed and with still no Shuichi, she felt so nervous she barely ate and almost jumped out of her skin when the phone rang.

Her granny raised her head from the newspapers while Nana hurried to the phone, 'Mochi-michi, Hinata residence.'

Right after what happened the last time her mom showed up, Nana used to feel this pressure on her chest as if someone was kneeling on it whenever the phone rang as she feared it would be her mom calling. Usually, she tried to avoid answering the phone or needed a second to hear the other person and know it wasn't her mother in order to let out a relieved breath and feel her heart beating again. After a few weeks passed, Nana calmed down of course and answered the phone just as carelessly as before.

This time it wasn't her mother speaking. It was someone else's mother who with a frantic voice was asking Nana questions she tuned out completely after the first one.

Kitajima May was missing.

'No, sorry, I didn't see her,' he told the woman absently as her body started to shake before she ended the call. Kitajima was missing. Two thoughts started to fight inside the girl's mind. One of how upset with was with the girl that she wished her misfortune in the form of Shuichi letting her down painfully. And the other in the fact that she would assume Kitajima would try to stay late with Shuichi…

'I'm going…,' she called out already running out of the door not even sure what was she about to tell her granny as all she could think about was that Shuichi said he would come to her house after he was done cleaning in the classroom. He didn't show up, and it was late, and the girl who was supposed to be with him was missing.

Please be home

Running wasn't her strong suit, but Nana still did her best rushing into Shuichi's house tossing her shoes aside while shouting an apologies to Shiori-san before she ended up inside her best friend's room, 'Shuichi-'

If she wasn't in such a hurry, she would notice if Shuichi's shoes were downstairs. If she wasn't in such a hurry, she would notice if Shiori-san's shoes were downstairs since lately she was often coming from work later. And if she wasn't in such a hurry, she would definitely notice a pair of stranger shoe downstairs-expect she wouldn't because he was wearing his shoes inside the house!

Nana's brown eyes widened as she spotted another person inside Shuichi's room because apart from the stress, she felt running all the way here the fact that someone else, someone new, a stranger was inside his room hit her like a punch into the stomach stealing her breath and every emotion she felt prior to opening the door. It was quite a bizarre moment as she couldn't ever remember anyone besides Shuichi himself and his mother in this room so for a second, Nana completely forgot why she came in the first place or what was even happening. It was too much of a bizarre occurrence.

The other boy, who was currently sitting on Shuichi's bed was wearing a strangely long black cloak-like jacket, black pants, and boots which he was wearing inside. Given how Shuichi was persistent about keeping things tidy, Nana was surprised he would let a stranger into his room with his footwear still on. Shiori-san would definitely be happy if she saw this.

Whoever the newcomer was, he was looking at the girl with a mixture of annoyance and disinterest that Nana found rude even more a bit insulting since she just met the boy. No way, there could be anything for which he could hate her already. But simply by the look on his face she couldn't help but feel that way.

It felt like the longest moment had passed with the two of them just staring at one another before suddenly Shuichi appeared in her line of vision as he stepped in front of the boy on the bed hiding him away from her sight, 'Nana.'

The girl blinked almost like she needed to get the image of the stranger inside Shuichi's room out of her eyes to be able to set her mind straight.

'Right,' she looked at her best friend and although it shouldn't be possible, just for a second it felt like she didn't recognize him. It was as if he was someone completely as a stranger as well, and Nana's mind now seemed alerted because there were two strangers inside Shuichi's room.

However, with a single blink of her eyelids, her mind cleared, and everything came crashing down allowing the sense of dread to return into her chest now heavier than ever, 'Kitajima-san is missing. Her parents are calling everyone from the class. She never made it home today. I thought…I thought she walked home with you.

His eyes momentarily widened before he shared a look with the other boy on the bed. In a silent exchange of words, they didn't voice out loud, Nana found the silence deafening. Throughout all those years since she and Shuichi became friends, it was always them against the others. It made her happy to be included, to belong to someone in such away. She never questioned it and until today with Kitajima she never would have thought there would come a day that she wouldn't have that with him. Let alone a stranger younger-looking boy, she didn't know.

The feeling of intrusion caused the raven-haired girl to take a step back like a force was dragging her out of the room where she didn't belong.

So it happened…It really happened.

She dug her fingers into her palm forcing herself to push her feelings away, 'Did you walk with Kitajima home? Did you see her? Her parents are calling everyone. They're really worried.'

Her feelings were not important when someone was missing and possibly in danger. She knew that. She needed to focus.

Shuichi spun to her and for a second, Nana thought she would see the surprise behind his eyes like he forgot that she was there. Instead, however, she saw something cold, calculative, and very dangerous that if it was anyone else would make her take a step back.

His green irises softened as they met with her brown ones, 'Nana, I need you to stay here and pick up the phone, so they don't speak to my mother. If she asks, tell her I'm finishing some work late in class and that I'm alright, and I will be home soon,' he told her in a commanding voice that was different from his usual one. It reminded her of the time he ordered those boys who were bothering them in three years ago to let her go. She remembered the chill that ran down her spine was the same as ran down now. It wasn't necessary to fear. It was something like respect and something else she didn't understand, but what forced her to nod and take a step back to allow them to pass as they started to head to the door.

Wait-what?

Her mind tried to make sense of it as her heart speeded up feeling that something wasn't quite right, but that perhaps Shuichi and this other boy could help their classmate.

Shuichi stepped next to her. This up-close, the feeling of respect and that something else was stronger, but with his warmth and presence so close, it didn't really cause fear inside her just confusion and worry, 'If anyone calls about to tell them I haven't returned either. It will be less suspicious that way.'

She wasn't sure what to say really, and since Shuichi looked like he knew what to do and something inside her that went further than common sense and her believes seemed to push her toward trusting his words and following his requests she ultimately accepted them, 'Okay, g-good luck, you two.'

The shorter boy paused behind Shuichi glancing at her from behind and then at Shuichi before he tossed her a disinterested look, she wasn't sure how to interpret and went down the stairs.

She glanced at Shuichi just as he put his face into a neutral look, so she didn't know what expression he had before as he said, 'It will be alright, Nana.'

He was gone before she could reply leaving her to stand in front of his room still confused but feeling less hurt than she had a moment ago. She didn't know what was happening. She didn't understand what happened inside Shuichi's room and with that other boy or even inside her chest.

Without anything else to do she walked downstairs to sit by the phone feeling confused more than ever thinking about it all. Were they out looking for Kitajima? Did they already know where she was? Why didn't he ask her to come?

She crossed her arms over her chest. Probably to protect her, but it still strake a nerve. He protected her often before. She knew he was stronger than her when it came to that so if she went, she would probably be a liability anyway. It still didn't sit right with ever if she could understand it. She wondered what happened after she went home and if she could have somehow avoided it by staying and ignoring Kitajima's request. Did she cause this by what she did?

The guilt ate away her heart even more so as her mind drifted back to the boy inside Shuichi's room. Whatever his story was, Nana knew deep inside her and the two understood each other. It was just one look, but there was something…

Somehow that other boy and Shuichi were connected too.

She didn't know what their connection was, but it was there.

Once again, it caused her to recall Shuichi's words from a couple of months ago.

You're free to make how many friends you want and eventually marry whoever you want.

Back then, she was grateful for those words, but in those painfully long moments, as she waited for Shuichi or Shiori to come home, she felt anything but that. She didn't realize their meaning. Their true meaning. She didn't realize they were a double sword.

If she was free…so was Shuichi…

She didn't realize it could also mean they were free to be replaced.

'Hello, is anyone home?' called Shiori-san from the door, and Nana walked toward her.

The woman smiled at her kindly and asked about her day in school and if Shuichi was home too. Lying to Shuichi was hard, Lying to Shiori-san was almost like a knife into the stomach that twisted with every untrue word.

'Oh, so he stayed late to study?' asked the woman sounding slightly bothered as she went to the living room to sit down. The moment she did, Nana got concerned as Shiori-san seemingly let go of whatever was holding her in a good mood and allow the girl to see the state of exhaustion, she was in. Nana knew the woman was working harder than before, probably to earn more money for Shuichi's studies, but with how she always looked happy moving with lightness and gracelessly it was easy to forget just how much of a toll that was on the poor woman.

'Are you alright, Shiori-san?' asked the girl eyeing the woman she grew to love as a second mother.

She waved her off, 'Just a bit tired, my dear. Don't worry about it. Come here.'

Nana came closer, and the woman pressed her fingers against her forehead to smooth her wrinkles, 'There, you're too young to worry so much, Nana-chan.'

The knife inside her stomach made another twist, 'Uh, I will make you some tea. How about that?'

The woman smiled kindly at her and stated it would be lovely which got Nana to leave for the kitchen and prepare the tea. As this was her second home, she knew where everything was easily making the tea just the way she knew the woman liked. She looked so tired, and if she just went to bed way earlier than usual it would probably make it easier for Nana to wait for the phone call.

'Ah, it's clear Shuichi-kun will be just as much of a workaholic as his mother,' said Shiori-san as she sipped her tea while Nana sat on the chair close to the phone, 'Yeah, he's always like that. But it paid off. He got into a good school.'

Shiori-san glanced at the teacup with a bit of a strange look behind her eyes, 'Nana-chan, are you sad you and Shuichi won't go to the same school anymore?'

Nana didn't think she sounded sad when she made her comment. Although they knew about this for months, she and Shuichi only had one serious conversation about them no longer being in the same class since it didn't really have to change anything because they were friends, and Nana school was only one stop before his so they could work out a schedule to still walk to and from schools on some days. It wasn't like they would be cut apart suddenly, and her granny only acknowledged the change by patting her back and stating she would have a cuter uniform than the girls from Shuichi's school. Nana was just so happy she at least managed to get to any of the three schools that she picked that she didn't even have the heart to openly criticize their separation as if Kami would punish her last minute by making her not be accepted.

'A little bit. I'm mostly nervous about the new school and people,' she admitted only now realizing it wouldn't just be not having Shuichi around. It would also be being lovely or with people, she didn't know. That would probably cause a new wave of panic to hit the poor girl, but luckily Shiori-san asked, 'In the end, it will be all right. Shuichi will get into a good university and then have a good job. It will be better for both and your future of you even if it doesn't seem that way now, Nana-chan.'

The girl blinked a bit confused. Why would Shuichi having a good job be better for her?

'You're special to Shuichi,' said the woman and looked at her with a soft look that made Nana sometimes wonder if it was possible that Shiori-san was the prettiest woman in the world.

'When he was younger for a very long time, I didn't think he would…fit. He was always so different even as a baby. It was as if he didn't really belong here with us, in the kindergarten, into the society,' she spoke and her face didn't sadden even for a moment, 'I wanted him to fit for so long because I knew if he didn't, he would be lonely. Loneliness is punishment for anything that doesn't fit in this world, and no mother wants that for her child. When he met you, I knew right away, he would never let you go. He was always like that. He's very stubborn and demanding, but once he decides he wants something, he takes it and keeps it no matter what. He's a bit selfish and possessive that way, my little boy,' her eyes met Nana's. Her eyes were dark almost black, but still very alluring in the same way Shuichi's could be even if the color was different, 'I would almost find it scary, but then I met you and realize you wanted to be kept like that. I don't think it's because you didn't fit, but I think it's because you saw that Shuichi didn't, and when he took you, you decided he was enough and stayed with him. I don't know if that is good for you, Nana-chan. But I know that it's good for him and selfishly like a mother I want nothing but what's best for my child.'

Her words caused a mixture of emotions to run through Nana before she felt Shiori-san touch her cheek, 'So know that you don't have to just stay kept. You are allowed to have more and to want more without fear. Shuichi already accepted you. He will wait for you no matter what. You cannot lose him just like I know he cannot lose you.'

Oh, a mother wants nothing but what's best for her children

Nana stood up and hugged the woman tightly feeling the crushing dread and hurt from the thought of losing Shuichi slowly drifting from her body as it got filled by nothing but warm affection from the woman who was like her sec-mother.

'Thank you, Shiori-san.'

The woman brushed her back holding her close for what felt like the longest time before she chuckled to ease the mood and said she would probably go to bed early. Just as she left the phone rang and without hesitation with only a bit of guilt, Nana lied for Shuichi to the person on the other line.

We are free, but that doesn't mean we will be replaced.

---

Kurama was silent the whole time, allowing Nana to take care of his arm. If he was in better shape, the wound would be healed by now, and the pain would be nothing more than a nuisance, but as he was nowhere close to the strength, he used to possess his wound just like any other human hurt and could get injected which wouldn't kill him, but would surely cause his even more pain. The pain wasn't horrible. It made it hard for him to move his arm and hushing his own cries, but he could bear it. He could endure it.

Of course, the redheaded yokai didn't tell the girl who was kind without a single word to spare that. He didn't even try to stop her. He could have done it himself at home in the comfort of his solitude and the privacy of his own room. He never would have imagined there would come a day, he would be open to allow anyone to see his weakness, but he wasn't the same person he used to be, and Nana as always was a rare exception to things he never would he even imagined he would do and have.

It took them too long to defeat Yasude. Far longer than it would have for his past self, but he had some comfort in knowing not even Hiei, the yokai, he met today would be able to do it on his own. It was strange to meet another of his kind and even stranger to be able to fight by his side. There was still a sense of lack of trust in order to protect himself, but overall, he got the sense that Hiei could perhaps if he needed become an ally although personally, Kurama hoped such an occasion would never occur again.

Once they found out that Kitajima alive, he carried her home making sure to erase her memories of what happened to that day all the while thinking that if Nana didn't leave home early if she walked home with him when he met Yasude's henchmen and then after Hiei mistakenly attacked it would be her who would get taken by the yokai and who knew if he would be able to find her in time or all.

The thoughts didn't leave him until he made it into her house and found her sitting on her bed with a sweater only her desk lamp on. He didn't see what she was doing and for a moment allowed himself the simplest pleasure in looking at her behind her window as one would at a favorite painting.

Her hair was down and slightly sticking to her face. She probably took a shower and was waiting for it to dry out a bit on its own or perhaps she was waiting for him to call her that he came home to say he was alright.

He could have left. It would have easily just to step back into the shadows, go home and call her. She would never know he was by her house and why would she? Why would be the point other than to see her and cause her to worry even more because his arm was still bleeding?

His knock was barely heard, but as it was night and Nana was so close to the window, she instantly turned around and in the next moment the window was opened. and her hand was against his cheek.

'You're okay, thank God. I heard from Sora-san that Kitajima-san turned up home,' she said smiling brightly at him possibly brighter than any of the stars at the sky, and along with her palm pressed against his skin allowing some sort of warmth to enter his veins. He didn't realize nights had gotten this cold, but it made sense since soon they would have Christmas breaks.

He got in through the window in a way a thief or a secret lover would and closed it making sure to lock it. Nana immediately lost some of her cheerfulness as he revealed his wound to her and immediately started to fix it.

His decision to come to see her didn't make any logical sense other than he wanted to. His decision to make here, someone who never tended such a wound do so when he was more than capable of doing it also didn't make any logical sense other than he wanted to. In a way everything he ever did regarding Nana he only did because he wanted to.

Right now, he wanted her careful hands that never seemed to mind working hard in the kitchen, the garden, or inside the house to touch him. He wanted to feel her hands on his today, tonight, just for a while just for a moment so he would know he made the right decision with Kitajima, with his life, with his future. He couldn't be close to humans not in the way Kitajima and all those other girls wished to be close to him. He wasn't human. Not completely. No, at all. He was an imposter living among them on borrow time stealing a life that was supposed to belong to another soul.

He couldn't allow anyone he cared for to get hurt because of him.

Kurama's green eyes glanced at Nana from under his eyelashes. Her face was focused and clear of fear or worry or any other emotion simply working her task with determination even he often found himself admiring. She was dedicated and full of life and energy always working to improve something and asking what could she help with.

He should probably let her go.

He lowered his eyes back to her hands wrapping a bandage around his skin.

He should let them all go.

Kitajima got hurt because of him. She could have died because she was in contact with his life. Others could sense it. Use it.

Use her.

Nana was his closest friend. She carried his scent all around the place. He had been to her room so many times and she to his. They often laid on each others' beds. She wore his hoodies whenever she was around, and it was cold because of an old habit he started when he tried to change her scent to his. Even Hiei could tell. The way he looked at him when they came outside. His snarky comment about his human little pet. It angered him although he let him off with a warning. But it proved a point, Nana was in worse danger than anyone else. In horrible danger.

Today he was lucky. But who knew about tomorrow? Could he risk her life? Her safety? Her bright smile sunflower smile? He couldn't allow himself to be naïve or careless like that.

But he could allow himself to be that selfish.

All too soon Nana was done pushing his sleeve back down and letting go of his skin.

He didn't like it, but he couldn't say it out loud. He couldn't bring himself to tell her…to ask her to touch him again. How would that look? How would that sound? One of the best thieves, a merciless and ruthless yokai asking for a human child to touch him again just so he would calm his human emotions and fears he couldn't seem to get under control no matter how much he tried. He wanted to growl at himself, at his own stupidity and the pathetic being he had become angered and embarrassed by his own actions. His time with Hiei and fighting Yasude showed him just how different he had become. He lacked everything the apathy, bloodlust, the sense of survival of himself and only himself.

This was why it was a bad decision to come to her. This was why he should have stayed away once he realized who he was. He should have long since cut all ties to Nana and his mother. He should have left. He should have left once and for all and never come back. Did he honestly expect himself to live like this? In secret? In the blind spot? Did he honestly expect everything to work out and him to keep his mother and Nana and make more friends and more ties and a life-

All of a sudden he felt a pair of arms reach from behind him in a calm and slow way and pull him into a warm body as they embraced him causing every thought inside his mind to stop halfway and disappear.

His eyes widened in shock waiting for her to say something, to explain what she was doing, or to apologize.

Nana, however, didn't say anything.

She just held him with her chest pressed against his back and with her arms over his arms and chest keeping him pressed against her in place in a firm but easy-to-break free way if he wished to do so.

He didn't.

Kurama lowered his face once again to look at her hands steadily holding his body the way he silently wished in his mind she wouldn't but didn't have it in him to ask for. He didn't have it in him to voice his weakness only to show it apparently.

The thing about Nana was she rarely needed him to ask for anything or say anything. Nana simply knew and acted. He wasn't sure if other people had a friend like that. A friend who understood them and their needs on some prime instinct level without verbal exchanges, but she always seemed to be able to do that. Ever since he first met her, Nana was always quick to go over the situation and just know what to do as if she did so for ages. Even today when it didn't make sense and possibly hurt her feelings to be asked to stay while he disappeared with Hiei without a single explanation she did as he asked of her.

Kurama's hands pressed themselves over hers making sure she wouldn't let go.

He closed his eyes and just allowed himself to feel the pressure of her body against his and know she was there. He didn't lose her, and she was intuitive enough to know him, and she would never run toward him if he told her to run home. She wasn't a lovesick girl like Kitajima or the others. She listened to him. She was a good friend. She was a good and clever person.

He wanted to thank her. He wished to thank her for all of those things that she was, but at that moment, he couldn't bring himself to open his cursed mouth.

Instead, he tilted his head to the side and pressed it against her shoulder knowing she would understand.

She gripped him a bit tighter and pushed her chin against the back of his head, and he knew she did.

He told himself he didn't need to let Nana go. She wasn't like Kitajima. She understood the importance of staying behind when someone told her to when he told her to. However, deep down, he knew that wasn't true. Deep down where he rather not looked in that moment, or today, or tomorrow, he knew the truth was that he didn't let go Nana the same way he did Kitajima because he couldn't.

He simply couldn't let Nana go even if it meant keeping her life in potential danger. He was too selfish to let her go. He needed her too much in his life. She was a part of his family. She was simply…his.

It felt like a lot of time passed before she let him go. Her hair was mostly dry and a bit wavy since she didn't brush it. Without another word, she brought him some of his old clothes. He always left something behind on purpose so it would catch her scent, or she would catch his.

He didn't need it, but he still changed his clothes while she waited outside and then crawled into the bed next to her allowing his body and mind to find peace in her scent and present.

They didn't touch, but with how close their faces were, he could feel her warmth that was somehow better than his own.

'It's alright,' whispered the girl closing her eyes, 'Tomorrow will be better,' she found his hand under the covers and squeezed it. They were far too old to share a bed, and Inko-san found them they would both be in trouble not to mention she would think the worse about the both of them. He would have to make sure he would wake up before the old woman and get home into his own bed before his own mother would notice. They shared a bed before. He recalled both times before he got his memories back when they did. In Makai, even if he let himself submit to passions with lovers, he never stayed the night to sleep. Such an idea would be absurd back then as it would open him up to too many vulnerabilities, and he never really trusted anyone that much. Once again, Nana proved herself to be his exception.

'I promise,' she finished and then didn't say anything else. He found himself grateful that she didn't call him by his name.

Listening to the sound of her evening breathing and heartbeat it was easy to lull himself to sleep with the symphony shredding all his doubts and fears for another day his exhausted body and mind craving the peace only sleep could offer.

Right before the sleep took him their hands still held onto each other.

---

A.N: Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. If you noticed then yes, Takeuchi was due to the amazing Naoko Takeuchi now Togashi. I hope you and all your loved ones are safe and healthy. Have a nice day