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 Seven: Youth Part V.
Two souls don't find each other by simple accident. – Jorge Luis Borges
Mumbling
Nana groaned pushing her arm over her eyes hoping it would block out the sun.
Was it morning already?
One unfortunate thing about the approaching summer was that day seemed to arise far sooner in the morning proved to be quite a pesky enemy of a high school girl who wished for a few more hours of sleep.
Mumbling
It took her another second or two, but the raven-haired girl realized she could hear fainted voices somewhere near her head.
Granny?
She felt something against her arm and glanced up. It wasn't morning at all. In fact, by the looks of it, it was the middle of the night and the thing that touched her arm was Fuku who had woken up as well and was now peeking through the window beside her bed outside. After the breaking-in of those men infected by the Makai Whistle, the poor creature didn't come home for three days probably shaken by the intruders. Fuku probably decided the house wasn't safe anymore. Nana didn't blame the cat as it took her close to a week to be able to fell asleep again after she was let out of the hospital still carrying a sense of uneasy feelings whenever she needed to walk through the broken door.
Mumbling
Carefully, the girl sat up and glanced from the bottom of her window so she wouldn't be seen only to let out an annoyed sigh when she spotted the familiar redhead kitsune and his trusted short companion.
'Seriously, you two,' she mumbled to herself and fell against her pillow again closing her eyes. After the whole attack, it was obvious Kurama made it his mission to keep her safer than ever no doubt asking Hiei to keep an eye on her when he was busy with other things. At first, she didn't notice, but as the youkai showed up for food far more often than before and revealed himself which meant she could engage him in meaningless chats it was beyond clear he did so in direct reaction to her attack. Kurama definitely asked him to keep an eye on her when he wasn't around. As positive as she was that the shorter yokai enjoyed her food, Nana doubted that would have been enough of value to him to keep coming back so often and actually spending time with her when he didn't have to. Then again, Kurama did say that Makai's rules and customs were different than those of the human world so maybe a good cook was worth of a fortune.
Although their care was starting to seriously get on the girl's nerves, she still had to admit they cared. How could she ever take it as a bad thing? Especially, given how easily it was for people not to care for each other even those who they were supposed to care for such as family-No! She promised herself and Kurama that she wouldn't think about that person anymore.
Instead, the girl easily got out of the bed and tiptoed into the kitchen to quickly prepared some food from that day into a bento box quietly heating it on the stove so she wouldn't wake up her granny with the microwave.
While she carefully placed the food into the bento box she wondered if Kurama and Hiei met to discuss her mother or on some spirit detective-related case.
Again, without making too much noise, Nana returned to her room and without much ado, she opened the window obviously startling the two yokai as they glanced at her with as much shock as a ruthless intelligent kitsune and equally enigmatic fire yokai could.
'Nana,' spoke Kurama pushing his hand into his pocket probably trying to get his composure back while Hiei glanced away with a slight frown.
'You're too loud to be sneaky. I would advise you to work on your whispering,' she said cheekily and waved the bento box in front of herself as if she was luring Hiei over like some cat or wild animal.
The yokai glanced over but kept his head to the opposite direction as if to show he wasn't interested, but Nana knew him better than that, which was why she was fighting hard not to smile especially when the yokai appeared in front of her as if in a blink of an eye and took the bento box with a short nod.
She saw Kurama smirk knowing he as well as she knew this was Hiei's way of saying thank you. They shared a quick glance just as the other yokai turned to the kitsune, 'Final warning, stay out of this Kurama. If I need assistance I know where to find you or the detective.'
And just like that he was gone out of Nana's sight and by the way, Kurama seemed to sigh and his shoulders fall out of the area in general.
Nana put her arm against her window frame and pressed her chin against it giving her friend a sympathetic look, 'Another case for Reikai? Should I get a bat?'
'No,' said Kurama shaking his head before he walked toward the window frame.
His green eyes fell down on her with a patronizing look, 'And I think we agreed next time there is trouble you will run the other direction.'
Nana wrinkled her nose, 'Did we agree?'
'There was a promise involved, and we kitsune take those deadly seriously,' he spoke almost gravely before his voice softened a bit, and the raven-haired girl recognized a spark of mischief inside his forest green eyes, 'I assure you, Hinata-san, you do not wish to experience the punishment for breaking a promise you gave to an accent kitsune such as myself.'
A shiver ran through the girl's spine one that had nothing to do with the slightly chilly air or the fact that she now realized she was kneeling on her bed with an open window in nothing else but her summer nightie and panties.
She swallowed and forced her eyes away trying to add some humor into the situation and shake such feelings away before her clever best friend would catch wind of them, 'No need to get serious. It was a joke. No need for more homework or stealing more of my ribbons.'
Something flashed through his eyes, and she bit the inside of her mouth wondering if she didn't just say too much by revealing she knew about his little den, 'Well, what was it about my mother?'
Kurama's face darkened for a second before he masked his emotions again, 'No, I already told you we took care of her. She won't bother in you in the nearest future.'
Nana watched the dark look on his face for a moment realizing how in the darkness of the night with only the moon giving them enough light to see each other, he truly seemed like someone capable of horrible and ruthless things. However, despite this Nana knew Kurama and Hiei's taking care probably meant he messed with her mother's memories to make her not want to look her up again or get her and granny involved in her problems. She trusted him and for once felt nothing but relief that her troublesome parent would stay the hell away from her. She wasn't sure if that made her a bad daughter but given everything that happened the girl was too exhausted to pretend, she wasn't happy about not having her mother in her life anymore.
She lowered her gaze frowning a bit as she once again recalled the horrible things her mother told her the last time they met. Not for the first time, the raven-haired girl wished she wouldn't meet her mother ever again.
All of a sudden Nana felt a soft touch against her head, and when she looked up, she found the redhead right by the window frame looking down at her with a much friendly look melting the previous coldness away as it was only reserved for those he despised.
Despite her previous awaken state suddenly Nana felt incredibly sleepy even yawning a bit, 'Kurama?'
'Rest, Nana. You have school in the morning. Don't worry about things you cannot change tonight,' he spoke in a voice that seemed to be soothing specifically for her benefit.
Before Nana knew it her head fall against the pillow again, and right before she was taken into the dreamland, she swore she felt something delicate touch her forehead and Kurama's soft voice whisper something she was too far gone to hear.
In the morning, Nana's window was properly locked as if the last night was a dream. However, before she could think about asking Kurama just to be sure, Nana's granny brought a bento from the backyard obviously the one Hiei left behind from last night.
'Uh, I was feeding a stray cat,' said Nana mentally hitting her forehead with how dumb the excuse sounded.
'Sure,' said her granny obviously not believing her one bit but letting her have her little lie for some reason. It wasn't the first time, Nana noticed her parent-figure decided to let Nana have her weak lies. There was no way someone as sharp as her granny would believe the nonsense Nana let out.
'Don't be embarrassed,' said her kitsune friend with an amused smile clearly trying to hold back on laughter over her new attempt at an excuse, 'If anything your lack of lying skills is a sign, you're an especially good and honest person, Nana.'
She would have been more willing the accept the compliment if she didn't saw the pure enjoyment in Kurama's eyes due to her shitty excuses and lies. If she ever managed to successfully lie to the kitsune about something, Nana was certain, he would be shocked beyond belief.
What a jerk, she thought fondly as she prepared herself, him, and Hiei bento boxes for the day. She couldn't be too, upset with him. He was her best friend after, and he took damn good care of her both in the hospital and when he came to pick her up.
The next day when they finally released her, Kurama came to pick her up dressed in casual clothing which was a rarity for him. Even when he obviously came from the Demon City and other ones of his spirit detective cases, he wore his school uniform. Not the most practical choice in Nana opinion, but she knew Kurama liked to dress respectfully even if he claimed such things didn't interest him. She was certain the last time she saw him in anything less than presentable was back in elementary school after a mud fight, she instigated. Of course, the result was her falling into a puddle, but it was still worth it to see the back then slightly more serious Shuichi-kun falling to his knees holding onto his stomach and laughing so openly and awfully adults shot them nasty looks. Nana remembered how seeing him like that so unmasked and honest caused her to just stare at him taking everything about him in and realizing just how long it was since he laughed like that. He looked so dumb and rude while he did that, but the girl couldn't help but think he looked perfect by being so flawed her chest filled with more affection than a young girl in elementary school could handle before she got to her feet and splashed him if only to make the confusion and sort of nice feelings fade.
Anyway, seeing Kurama now in casual clothes, still fancy enough, but casual was a nice change. He brought her clean clothes too and some food from her granny which she was grateful for because she had a feeling the nurses didn't like her very much and brought her only vitamins for some reason.
'It's too salty,' mumbled Nana fondly knowing that her dearest grandma was getting too old for cooking.
'She hasn't been doing much of it lately with you taking over your kitchen,' joked Kurama earning a shove from the petite girl while she continued to eat.
Afterward, she got dressed neatly folding everything into a bag and getting ready to go home before she realized Kurama was leading her some other way, 'Uh, are you kidnapping me?'
He glanced at her for a moment before he smirked, 'It is my understanding that beasts do kidnap the pretty damsels in distress. But frankly, I don't see any around here so no.'
'Rude,' said Nana without a bite and easily matched his pace which she had a feeling the kitsune purposely kept light for her sake. She was still healing after all.
'Did Hiei find my mother?' asked Nana after a moment. Ever since she woke up, she had been thinking about the fact that Kurama wanted to find Izumi and talk to her about what happened. She was pretty sure that such discussion would end in him getting upset as he never took well whenever someone was mean or bad to Nana. As a kid, his response was to bite the person, as an adult yokai in a teenage body it was probably to do something worse to them.
His smirk slipped from his face into a much more controlled look that made her regret her question. She didn't mind when he had those for others, but with her, she wished to only see the real him, 'He didn't contact me since, so I suppose not. Would you rather he didn't find her?'
Nana thought about it. She caused her a lot of pain, but Nana would still rather her not getting hurt in any way. She rarely wished people what they deserved Kurama would say. Maybe she was too soft or too kind. Maybe they didn't deserve her kindness, but she still couldn't help it. She was just wired that way. Wishing just the best for everyone or at least to be left alone by those who couldn't push their cruel behavior toward her away. Such cruel people as her own mother.
Without a second thought, the girl took his free hand which wasn't carrying her belongings in a bag, and looked in front of them, 'I think what you said about her is true. She already took enough space in my mind and heart. I don't want her to take any in yours.'
Even with her eyes in front of her, she sensed the yokai glanced at her before he squeezed her hand without a single word. His touch was soft and warm and despite the seriousness of their conversation not too long after Nana felt the familiar tight knot inside her stomach and warmth inside her chest. Suddenly, the human girl was all too aware that they were holding hands and that some of the people passing them by glanced at their hands. However, despite her embarrassment which by now was typical of her whenever she and Kurama acted a bit more than just friendly, she forced herself not to be the first one to let go. She just took a deep breath trying to push the hotness off her face and enjoy the moment.
It was a nice moment after all.
They walked all the way to a family house in a neighborhood Nana didn't recognize. It wasn't as nice as the one where Kurama lived, but it was still nice enough, she supposed. It was clear someone lived their lives to the fullest there.
'I'm tempted to say you bought a house, but I know you would never leave Shiori-san,' joked the girl with a wide smile.
Kurama rolled his eyes at her, and they made their way inside greeted by a tall young woman with brown hair smocking on the front yard. She didn't seem too bothered by them as if she knew them or had many strange visitors in the house. In fact, she always seemed bored except when for a brief moment Nana's and her eyes met, the girl felt an odd sense of something like the woman could read her perhaps the way Kurama or Hiei could. Was she also a yokai? She didn't seem that much older. Maybe in her early twenties. However, Kurama once told her it was rare for yokai to walk freely in the Human World even he and Hiei were now only allowed this due to their probation for the Reikai.
'Who was that?' Nana whispered to Kurama stepping as close to him as possible as they got away from earshot although if the woman was a yokai it would not have mattered.
'Kuwabara's older sister, Shizuru-san,' he replied calmly causing Nana to stop in track visibly shocked by the new information.
'Why-why are we in Kuwabara-kun's house? And how do you even know him?' she asked. The last thing she expected was that they came to visit Kuwabara. She would be less surprised if this was some yokai lair or Hiei's house although by now she was sure the stray cat yokai was more of asleep in the tree kind of guy.
Nana knew the moment her redhead best friend pulled that smirk of his, he would make fun of her in some way, but she was genuinely thrown off by what came out of his mouth next, 'Well, I think as we are dating, I should be aware of your potential suitors. Wouldn't you agree, darling?'
Nana's face immediately went up in flames no doubt creating a new shade of red, she didn't know existed.
Why-what? HUH?!
Her mouth tried to form the words, but no sound came out as she stood in front of him not really knowing how to say to that.
What an absolute jerk!
She glanced away deciding to give him shit about the pet name or whatever the hell that was when she wouldn't feel like she would burn from the inside and instead forced herself to ask while looking away, 'H-how do you know about that?'
Because there was a reason, she didn't mention Kuwabara's little joke and that was because she was sure he wouldn't found out about it so how did he?
'He told me,' said Kurama sounding almost proud that he knew her little secret without her telling him, 'Sincerely apologized I might add,' said the kitsune already disappearing up the stairs before the poor human girl had even time to pull off her shoes, 'Oi, oi!'
Did he tell him? Why? How? How would the topic of her or them pretending to date or date even come up? Just what do boys talk about when they meet?
Nana ran into him ending up in Kurama's arms where he silenced her by pressing a finger to her lips causing another one of the odd sensations inside her to bloom, 'Quietly, we have patients here too. Also,' he gave her a patronizing look, 'You shouldn't run or tire yourself too much remember?'
She almost forgot about her own wound, but the other comment confused her. Who were the other patients Kurama mentioned?
The girl blinked puzzled and slightly frowned as the kitsune let her go before they met up with the younger Kuwabara who didn't notice them at first as he was mumbling grumpily about something.
Once the ginger finally noticed them, he enthusiastically called out, 'Hinata-san! Kurama!'
Nana chuckled quietly and despite keeping her eyes on the younger boy she heard Kurama's little tired sigh all too well chuckling some more.
'Urameshi is still out cold. Sometimes I wonder if he will ever wake up,' said the ginger-haired boy as he explained the situation to them over some tea.
'Don't worry yourself, Kuwabara, I'm certain Yusuke just needs more time to regain his strength. He will be fine,' assured him and her Kurama looking very much sure of his words which pushed some of Nana's worries about the young spirit detective away. Kurama only mentioned last night that all of them gained some wounds but that in overall they were alright. She would give him a piece of her mind later about failing to mention Kuwabara and Yusuke almost died, and Yusuke was obviously not out of the woods completely.
'Anyway, I was thinking about this prank we could pull when the sleeping beauty wakes up. You know to ruffle his feathers a bit,' said the ginger with a sudden look and smile that was almost as scary as the one Kurama used to have when he was up to something that would get them in trouble.
'Absolutely not!' snapped Nana once he was finished explaining his wicked idea. How could he to joke about something as horrible as Keiko and Botan getting hurt like that? What a pair of jerks! And here she thought he might be a decent guy. Instead, the girl rather took solitude in the kitchen deciding to fix them some snacks since apparently, Kuwabaras weren't big on stocking their fridge.
'Sorry,' she heard behind her as the woman from earlier, Kuwabara's sister came into the kitchen and noticed her preparing some light sandwiches, 'our parents work a lot and, baby bro usually eats out with his friends, and I can't cook for shit.' She didn't seem to bother by it, but Nana senses some embarrassment in her voice.
'Don't worry about it. Shuichi's mom works a lot too and my granny is getting too old so I'm in charge of food for both households,' she explained brightly knowing it would ease the woman up.
It seemed to work before the woman frowned a bit confused, 'Shuichi? You mean Kurama?'
Nana grimaced. Apparently, it was alright to use his real name around both Kuwabaras, 'Yeah, sorry, I wasn't sure if you knew.'
'Not hard to know when Kazuma shouts like a buffoon for the whole neighborhood to know,' joked the woman seemingly not having the slightest problem busting her little brother's balls.
Nana chuckled at that finding the sibling's dynamic rather comforting, 'Yeah, he's a bit loud at times, but overall a good guy and that's what counts.'
The woman watched her and after a moment despite how calm the woman looked Nana started to feel a bit self-aware, 'Uh, is everything alright, please Kuwabara-san?'
'Yeah, it's fine, just that you have this…good vibe about you. I never met anyone who seemed so…bright,' explained the woman, and Nana blinked recalling times Kurama also made a comment about her being like sunflower or sun always thinking it was because of how they met or due to how many years they have under their belts as friends. Before she could ask what, the woman meant, she said, 'Call me Shizuru by the way. Kuwabara-san is my mom after all, Nana.'
Nana replied with a smile still wanting to return to Shizuru's comment about being bright but just then the door open and a cheerful voice echoed through the door, 'We came to visit! Is anyone home?'
Nana blinked as a tall young girl perhaps in her age with light blue hair entered the room along with Keiko.
'Nana-chan, hello!' called the girl Nana didn't recognize while Keiko waved at her lightly. Did everyone seem to know who she was or was connected to her and Kurama in a way? However, seeing the blue hair and how pretty and cheerful the girl appeared, Nana immediately recalled her conversation with Hiei that seemed so long ago and blurted out, 'You're the detective's assistant.'
The girl nodded her smile even wider apparently very happy about Nana knowing who she was, 'Yes, you heard of me. I hope only the nicest of things.'
'Yes,' said Nana hesitantly realizing she probably wouldn't enjoy knowing she heard about her from the grumpy yokai who called her a dense ferry girl and airhead, 'But I didn't catch your name. Do you want a sandwich?'
Luckily the food and introductions distracted them enough so the fairy girl, Botan, didn't ask for more details on what Nana heard. The discussion was light but rather quickly Nana noticed how Keiko's knowledge of what was going on was rather limited or purposely misdirected as she was apparently under the impression that Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama were working part-time for an actual detective agency. As she caught the pleading face Botan shot her, she forced a smile and nodded to the lie knowing someone as clever as Keiko would definitely tell she was lying.
'Not a good liar, huh?' asked Shizuru while eating another sandwich once the other girls decide to check on Yusuke.
'The worse,' admitted Nana just as they heard some shouting from upstairs, and the raven-haired girl remembered Kuwabara's prank and how she forgot to warn the girls.
Oops.
After she brought the rest of the sandwiches upstairs for the boys, Yusuke practically wolfing them down without chewing, she returned downstairs to make some more. This time only Botan was present tapping something inside her small pocket mirror.
'Nana-chan, you're such a talented cook,' said the Spirit Guide happily, 'I'm certain you will end up a top chef.'
Nana smiled genuinely likely the girl's positivity since she often felt like not a lot of people like her were around.
'I feel it in my bones and heard only the highest of praise from everyone,' she said which made Nana pause in her work, 'You did?' Perhaps Kurama and the others talked to Botan about her cooking. It seemed to come up often as Kuwabara and Kurama quickly learned they were talking about the same person and so did Yusuke and Kurama.
Botan never losing her cheerfulness took the girl's hands into hers started to feverishly nod, 'Of course, everyone in Reikai knows how important Kurama's mother and you are to him. It's a known fact,' her face gained a teasing smirk as she added, 'A rather juicy and cute one I might add. Kurama's story in general is a rarity and to have him so devoted to humans is just something to really think about. Not to mention everyone talks about you here. You're such a sweetheart.'
Nana grimaced knowing she was getting embarrassed again. That was too much praise for her also that people in Reikai thought Kurama and her being friends was juicy and cute made her face feel far too hot again.
'Oh, if the two of you had babies, they would be the most adorable-'
Nana tuned the rest of the girl's speech out feeling a sense of cold sweat slowly run down her back chilly not only her body but also her soul as she recalled her mother's words from before.
You ruined my life.
'Nana-chan?' she felt the other girl touch her arm bringing her out of her thoughts into reality again.
'Botan-chan, is it…true that children born out of marriage are a sin?' Nana asked without realizing she wanted to her eyes going wide as she realized just how awful it was to even say the question out loud.
'Forgive me, that was…please don't pay attention to me,' she pulled away trying to mask her state of mind with a nervous giggle and return to finish the last few sandwiches imagining a person like Botan would just nervously laugh as well and forget such a serious topic coming out of the blue from a stranger she just met.
Surprisingly, that wasn't the case as suddenly, Nana felt Botan put a hand over the top of her head and then pushed it against her shoulder in the most affectionate way. Something perhaps Nana would imagine a family member such as a mother or older sister would do for each other.
'Nonsense, Nana-chan,' said the girl with a mixture of the familiar cheerfulness but with an edge that revealed despite how happy and young the Spirit Guide appeared she was essentially very old and wise, 'No one is ever born a sinner, least of all you. You were born to this world with a purpose to live, find your path and touch the lives of everyone you meet just like everyone else. I have never in my many years of being the Spirit Guide ever guided a soul that was born a sinner even those of people born out of wedlock. Whoever told you such cruel things only wished to hurt you, so please don't allow them the satisfaction.'
Nana stayed silent listening to Botan's words and allowing her voice and their meaning to wash over her like a warm wave. It made her feel somehow better.
The blue-haired ferry girl tapped Nana's head lightly a few times before she stepped away and chuckled, 'I think we're going to be good friends, Nana-chan.'
The girl nodded immediately agreeing with her promising herself the next time she would meet Hiei she would tell him not to be too hard on the Spirit Guide as she truly was someone special.
Not long after Yusuke woke up and got pranked by his friends, they started to slowly leave the Kuwabara household parting ways at least for the time being although Nana couldn't help but voice that she had a feeling that very soon all of their lives would entwine again and to her surprise the always rationally Kurama, who despite his origin didn't allow superstition to guide his life, strongly agreed.
'You seem distracted,' Kurama heard by his side as he and Nana were sitting in her backyard by their table finishing with their homework. Summer was two weeks away with their final exams finishing this week. They stayed up all night often ending up moving to Nana's room to finish studying. Well, she was studying, and he was playing a tutor again since it was far easier for him to deal with his learning material.
'You should be paying more attention to your math problems, not me,' he said and tapped her forehead barely avoiding a shove from the raven-haired girl before she pouted glaring at her open exercise book, 'Math should solve its own problems.'
Nana then looked back up at him her expression clearing a bit, 'Besides it's hard to stay focus when I can tell something's on your mind. What is it? Another case?'
'No,' partly lied. It wasn't his case at least.
Nana's eyes narrowed, 'Does it have something to do with Hiei's absence?'
Of course, since Hiei clearly decided the Hinata household was a meal center for the yokai who didn't have a home of their own since he came over to have his stomach filled more often than a stray animal would Nana was now more than aware that he hadn't shown up for a couple of days in a row.
'He's not lost if that's what crossed your mind,' he said wished to soothe the worry lines beside her eyes as she clearly thought something unfortunate happened to the yokai. She cared too much for people which was both her best feature and worse flaw.
Nana tapped her finger against her exercise book, 'Alright, but is he in danger?'
A fairly tricky question.
'Hiei can take care of himself. He may not appear like it, but he is very strong,' he assured her dancing around the answer. The truth was that Hiei contacted him three days ago to tell him he found out his sister, the reason he came to the Ningenkai, in the first place was held prisoner and used by greedy humans. It wasn't the first time humans used the weaker yokai for their own purposes. Cruelty and greed were a shared people by both humans and yokai alike.
'Don't follow me,' warned him the other yokai then with a stern look on his face, 'If worst comes to worst, the only way for you to convince them that you weren't involved is not to be present.'
'And do you plan for it to go that far?' Kurama asked mostly for Hiei to think about it than to actually stop him. He knew there was no way he could change his friend's mind, and so he didn't bother trying to do it.
'You would,' said the fire yokai with a knowing look, 'You almost did.' Kurama nodded thinking of his mother and how he was willing to commit suicide in order to secure her life.
'Good luck,' he said finally with a small smile, 'Perhaps, it will not come to that, and we shall share a meal here once again.'
Unlike last time they met next Nana's window, tonight she didn't work up and their conversation seemed to carry a much friendlier if not sentimental tone.
'Don't be soft, Kurama,' said the yokai before he disappeared into the night leaving the kitsune with tension in his body. He didn't approve of Hiei's plan or methods, but he pushed it aside knowing it would be irrational to voice them as Hiei gave him the same courtesy knowing what he planned to do for his mother.
Suddenly the kitsune felt movement and caught Nana's hand before she would flick his forehead. Lost in his thoughts he was hard to surprise although his human friend sometimes did get lucky.
Nana smiled a bit at him, 'Will he be back soon?'
He sighed and she quickly added, 'You don't have to tell me what's he up to if it's a secret, just if he will be alright. You seem to be avoiding direct answers. You're very good in diversion, dearest Kurama.'
He set her hand down and with a small smile before he accepted that he had to tell her the truth in some way and confessed, 'I cannot answer where he is or what is he doing or even if he will join us again. For now, all I can say is Hiei is capable of taking care of himself, and if he caught wind of your worries rather than touched, he would be offended. So please don't worry too much and focus on your studies unless you wish to spend your whole summer and the two weeks the Yukimuras gave you in summer school.'
Nana clearly didn't like the answer, but in the end, she was far too good of a friend for her own good and accepted it all with a nod. She was never one to push people to confess what they wished to keep a secret. It was the reason they got along so well.
However, he couldn't repay her with the same courtesy as there was one secret of hers, he wished to unfold.
His thoughts drifted to the first day of his return to school after their case in the Demon City when one of his classmates approached him wishing to speak with him in private. At the time, he falsely assumed she was planning to confess her feelings to him. Even if such situations were reduced due to his supposed taken relationship status with Nana, it still didn't convince some girls who occasionally tried to express their feelings.
'No, sorry,' said his classmate and rose her hand looking a bit flushed perhaps embarrassed by how it looked, 'I mean, I didn't want to uh…confess. I just wanted to ask if Hinata-san was alright.'
Kurama was genuinely surprised by the girl's request. He recalled that Saya-san was one of the girls who must have come to Nana's school, and even though Nana herself claimed it was nothing and even felt good about the girls enjoying her food, he was still surprised they would care enough to ask about her.
The girl looked away some of the awkwardness replayed with sadness, 'She stopped by the other day when you left early, and she was very upset. She was crying, you see. And it seemed…like something really bad happened to her to make her feel this sad.'
The day, Saya was referring to, was when he was called for a mission for the Rekai and Nana had an unfortunate meeting with her mother, 'Yes, I know, she was very upset that day, but she's alright now. She's a strong person after all.'
Saya-san smiled a bit and looked at the yokai, 'I'm glad. Whatever that boy said to her she shouldn't even pay mind to it. He was probably being a jerk.'
Kurama didn't let the surprise show on his face, but he was confused about what the girl was talking to. Rather cleverly he asked, 'Ah, so you were present when it happened?'
She shook her head quickly, 'No, I was talking to sensei about my last test, and I saw them through the window. Hinata-san is very short, and her uniform stood out from ours. For a moment I thought she was talking to you but then I remembered you left early,' said the girl and brushed her cheek with her index finger clearly embarrassed about the mistake.
Kurama nodded hoping he didn't look like he gave everything away.
Saya-san must have assumed it was the boy who upset Nana so much she cried, but it was due to the combination of stressful situations.
He frowned recalling how Nana mentioned one of his classmates called her fat. He didn't pay much thought thinking it was probably due to the medication and he was far more concerned about what her mother told her but now he had to wonder.
All of a sudden he reached out across the table, and he pinched one of her adorable cheeks causing the poor Nana to let out a hurt squeak before she broke free and hit him or tried to hit him since he lazily dodged her attempt. That only added to her frustration, and she tried to move her seat, but his foot blocks the chair causing it to stay in place.
'You failed to mention an incident that took place when you came to look for me in school a few weeks ago,' he said after causing her frown and confusion to fade a bit as she must have immediately understood what he was referring to. It meant it wasn't something she could easily forget which meant Saya might have been right, and the incident did upset her.
'I forgot about,' she said and tried to move her chair, but his foot continued to block it, 'You seemed upset about it in the hospital. Did the boy honestly said you were overweighted?'
She brushed her forehead her features tensing as she was obviously not happy about the conversation, 'I can't remember anymore. It was weeks ago, and I was dealing with other far more important and stressful things.'
'But it did cause you even more grief, didn't it?' he pressed on which earned him a very heated look from her signaling her growing frustration with him pushing the matter further.
'It doesn't matter. I haven't even thought about it since. The boy just said a few things that pissed me off at the time more than they should. He was probably just someone who was going through his own things.'
'Still, that is no excuse to hurt feelings of others,' stated Kurama reasonable, 'Least of all girls he doesn't even know.'
He was frowning slightly carefully taking in her features, 'I hope you're not trying to protect anyone.'
She frowned back at him making it clear she didn't like the implication, 'I am not and even if I was it would be my choice. You don't have to solve everything for me. I am not completely helpless, you know.'
Kurama's eyes widened surprised by her words wondering if she truly saw herself as such a damsel, 'I know you're not. You're one of the strongest people I know. It's what I told Saya-san when she asked me about your wellbeing.'
Nana blinked causing some of her anger to melt away, and he assumed it was probably because of his classmate's concern before she asked, 'You tell people I strong?'
His face calmed down, and he even offered her a small smile before he reached for her hand again gently lifting it a bit above the table, 'Of course, these hands that hold me so tightly whenever I need them to without asking to have to belong to an incredibly strong person. Why would I tell people otherwise?'
She titled her head with a seemingly touched look on her face her brown eyes once again warm and welcoming making it hard not to get lost in them,
'But if the reason for your distress or pain is me, I cannot control the need to fix it, I am sure you understand,' he said sobering up a bit and squeezing her hand a bit to underline his point. Kurama wished that his best friend would understand his possessiveness of her weren't due to her lack of abilities or strength, but mostly caused by his own fear and care for her.
Nana watched him for a moment before she nodded, 'Yes.'
'Good,' he said softly grateful that she understood him so well and didn't fight him on this even if he at times wondered how much of a jerk, he was for always demanding so much from her. So much understanding. So much trust. So much reason to his own wishes. He could only hope his own selfishness wouldn't one day fire against him and cause him to lose Nana for good.
Just as Kurama let her hand go and she appeared to be ready to return to her studies he sensed a presence of Spirit Guide nearby and looked to the end of Nana's backyard.
The Spirit Guide, Hana, was dressed in a dark kimono looking at the two of them obviously send to fetch him into the Rekai and to Lord Koenma.
'I must leave,' he said feeling a sense of dread of realizing that either Hiei already did what he planned to do, or they wished to get Kurama over to stop him. Neither of which would be a pleasant experience.
Nana glanced to where he was looking and then back at him, 'Your friend.'
'That's yet to be seen,' he said and tapped against her exercise book, 'Finish this. I will check it when I come back.'
Nana groaned for a moment as a spoiled and bored child would but before he was out of earshot called out, 'Stay safe.'
He tossed her a small smile he hoped eased some of her worries before he continued to walk to the Spirit Guide expecting the worse outcome as always. He would leave the optimism to Nana and others.
'He stood me up!' screamed Keiko as she entered the dinner dressed quite fancily no doubt returning from a sort of date.
'I can't believe that good for nothing asshole!' she shouted stomping toward the stairs that led to the upper part of the house and the Yukimuras house.
'Ah, Yusuke-kun and Keiko-chan must have gotten into another fight,' sighed Yukimura-san while waving clothes in front of her face due to the hot weather.
Nana looked from the older woman back to where Keiko disappeared a sense of something bad coming settling in the young girl's stomach, 'Yukimura-san, I will be back in a sec, alright?'
She put down the apron from her working uniform and rushed up the stairs. She has only been upstairs a couple of times. More now since Keiko and she became relatively better friends. She still didn't approve of the way Yusuke and the others kept the girl in the dark and offered her part-time lies, but as she told Kurama, 'It's Yusuke-kun's choice and duty to tell her the truth. Not mine. So for now, I will play along, but I won't openly lie to her if I don't have to.'
It seemed to impress her redhead friend so hopefully, it was the right choice.
'Keiko-chan, is everything alright?' she asked knocking on the girl's bedroom door only for it open almost immediately with a furiously looking Keiko inside, 'That jerk stood me up! He showed up twenty minutes late! Can you imagine? And then he ran off leaving me on the street. What an absolute maniac!' snapped Keiko causing Nana to look back genuinely worried for her own life and Yusuke's based on how horribly scary the junior high school girl could be.
Nana grimaced and carefully suggested, 'Maybe he got called off…for another case?'
Just like that, the fury in Keiko's face disappeared as if it wasn't even there, and a look of something close to confusion cross her face, 'A case?'
Nana shrugged her shoulders, 'Well, he gets called out quite randomly. I was once on my way to meet up with Kurama,' she whispered his name in case Keiko's father was nearby, 'But he was already gone, so maybe Yusuke-kun was just in a hurry to leave as well.'
Suddenly Keiko's face fell a bit, and Nana reached out of her shoulder fearing she said something bad, 'Hey, now.'
Keiko shook her head, 'I hope he's alright…if…If something happened to him while I was cursing his name like he was the devil…I just-'
'Keiko-chan, don't worry about it, please. It will be fine. Yusuke-kun always pulls through. I'm sure he will this time as well,' assured her Nana feeling a bit relieved when the other girl offered her a small smile and nodded, 'Thanks, Nana-chan.'
She patted her shoulder lightly before she returned to finish her shift wondering if Kurama got called to the case as well if that was the reason for Yusuke's sudden departure from his date with Keiko. The shift ended relatively uneventfully with just a few more customers and Yukimura praising Nana.
The girl put on her summer uniform still thinking it would be better if she went with some casual shirt instead. The nights were getting just as hot as the days.
With no botany club activities, Kurama was usually already waiting for her by their spot on their way to the train station, but this time he seemed to be late. Not sure if she should wait or not, Nana slowly started to make her way to the station until she finally found him waiting for her at one of the benches.
'Sorry, I figured I would just wait here,' he explained while offering her a polite look that froze something inside the girl's heart. This was a mask. It was something Kurama usually reserved for people who he deemed outsiders. People who weren't her. He wore one in front of his mother too, and for a time being, he sometimes slipped into one for Nana as well. Always when he was dealing with something far too upsetting he wished to hide from her.
The raven-haired girl sat down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder as he glanced in front of him with a very unfocused yet intelligent look on his face. He was obsessively thinking about something. Something not good.
'What's the matter?' she asked in a hushed voice barely louder than a whisper as if too afraid to ask with more volume sensing she wouldn't like the answer no matter what it was.
'An agent showed up today in my school with a message for me,' Kurama started after a long moment as if he needed to gather his thoughts before he could properly explain, 'The same message he had for Hiei, Yusuke and Kuwabara.'
'What's the message?' asked Nana just as their train slowly stopped on the tracks. People started to part it, and some went inside, but neither of the two teens moved from their places on the bench or their positions in general.
Kurama's voice could be barely heard over the noises of people talking exiting and getting on the train, the female voice stating the train next stops or even the train itself, but Nana being so close still heard every word of it. Her eyes widening with every second, and the redhead in a nonchalant voice that held plenty of tension only she could decode explained to her everything about the Dark Tournament.
His lips stopped moving just as the door closed.
The train left the station leaving them mainly in dark and silence with Nana's heart beating so hard it felt like the only sound in miles.
She tried to speak, but no words came out not even sure what should she say.
Dark Tournament
Death
Blood
Violence
Punishment
Assassins
'Nana,' she heard Kurama's voice come as if from distance over the sound of her own rapidly beating heart that almost felt like it wanted to break free from her chest.
When she looked back at him, she didn't even know when she looked away, his green eyes were very intensely buried into hers, but despite the situation and everything he just told her the next words that came out of his mouth carried incredible strength and confidence, 'I will come back to you.'
She felt like her heart skipped a beat upon hearing that some gravity of the situation dulling down in order for her thoughts to make sense and the hopefulness of her character start to fill her with positivity.
Her lips formed a grimace rather than a smile, but when she spoke, she knew in her heart it wasn't a lie, 'Of course you will. You're the thousand-year-old Legendary Thief. You always find a way to survive.'
Something soft flashed behind his forest green eyes making them appear incredibly warm for a moment which wasn't something they did often if they weren't looking at Shiori-san. It caused Nana to feel the familiar warmth and pressure inside her, but rather than get embarrassed again this time she forced herself to push her childlike antics away in order to offer Kurama as much supposed as possible knowing he needed it more than anything and that except for that she wasn't able to offer him anything else.
Her brown eyes closed as she leaned forward took his face into her hands as she pressed their foreheads together. The way she knew his mother did when he was little or upset.
'Thank you, Nana,' she didn't have to open her eyes to know he was smiling.
The momentary weakness was annoying. Despite the only witness being Nana who would never think less of him and actually quickly managed to get him out of his own head, Kurama found it despicable that he lost control over his emotions like that. Especially as he heard Nana's heartbeat and saw the fear behind her brown eyes thinking the worse. He shouldn't have scared her like that even if it was for just a moment.
'Hey, Kurama!' called Kuwabara jogging toward him. The redhead spotted the younger boy with his group of friends walking out of their school and for a moment caused his yoki to spike to alert the psychic of his presence.
Kurama grimaced and pressed a finger against his lips, 'Hello, Kuwabara, if you recall I mentioned it's unwise to call out my real name in public like this.'
The boy sheepishly brushed the back of his head, 'Right, sorry, sorry, uh, Minamino. My bad.'
The kitsune brushed his apology off and rather urged him to follow him. The night before, Yusuke contacted him stating that he would head to his Master Genkai for training, 'The old hag is a fucking tyrant, but she's my best chance in getting strong. I just hope she takes me back.'
He was right of course. Even when trying to stay low, Kurama like many others yokai heard rumors of Master Genkai, an excellent martial art fighter, and member of the winning team of the Dark Tournament five decades ago. Yusuke was in good hands, which meant they needed to focus on, at the moment, the weakest part of their team, and that unfortunately for him was Kuwabara. Hiei was naturally right about how pathetic their chances were, but there was still time. However, because of that they couldn't slack off and needed to work on themselves.
He brought the boy to the woods deep enough to avoid anyone who might see them. Hiei was already waiting for them looking bored, but Kurama could sense he was impatient. He didn't like the idea of Kuwabara being their teammate, but at the same time, he wasn't one to leave everything to chance. Their opponents would hardly go easy on them, and they needed to be ready for everything. All of them.
'I will start with you,' said the shorter yokai looking directly at the physic now. If Kuwabara felt any fear he didn't show it or express it in any way for Kurama to sense which caused the kitsune to smirk when he heard the boy shout, 'Bring it on shorty!'
'What's a soda can gonna do?' asked Kuwabara rather grumpily probably for the first time he was ever openly rude to Nana, who simply rolled her eyes and pressed the can against his throbbing eye. Kurama was carrying the poor beaten psychic perhaps a bit purposely taking a way that would cause them to catch Nana on her way from her part-time job. It had been over three weeks now that he stopped walking the girl home as they needed to give as much of their time to training as possible.
He gasped but ultimately looked satisfied with the sensation, 'Thanks.'
Nana looked him and then Kurama up and down with a very observant look, 'Is it helping at least.'
'It's too soon to tell,' he told her rather than gave her false hope.
The girl nodded with a sigh accepting it all the same, 'Tomorrow I don't have a shift, so I can stop by and cook something for you guys. You look like you could use a break.'
Kuwabara looked at the girl seemingly lifting in spirits, 'Really? You would do that? Wouldn't it be too much trouble?'
Nana shook her brown head and chuckled, 'If I can make open fire there then no. If it's alright that is with your training and all?'
Kurama smiled a bit, 'Perhaps a small break could help.'
He could sense and see Kuwabara's whole being dancing with excitement over the possibility that after another merciless training he would be rewarded with a bit of something nice and a bit more relaxing. Especially since the kitsune noticed that since the beginning of the week the young psychic acted slightly down in opposite to the confidence and cheerfulness he expressed at the beginning when they started to train.
Nana seemed to notice the boy's joy as well and she lifted her brown eyes which were slightly laughing toward Kurama's to share a knowing look.
They walked the girl toward the train station before he went to drop of Kuwabara home awaiting the new day for their training to continue once again. They were getting somewhere at least. Kuwabara, despite what he lacked in other fields, seemed to have an unshakable will to carry on which more than once caused the boy to stand far longer than both he or Hiei anticipated. At least it was proving to be to some purpose. Their time was shortly running out.
Nana prepared everything she would need for her cooking in the woods and carefully packed it perhaps an hour in advance.
'Eating in the woods,' said her granny after she told her, 'That should be nice. Enjoy yourselves.'
She thanked her granny before returning to her room change into something she wouldn't might getting dirty or ruined in the woods and some better shoes. The school was officially out, and Nana couldn't help but smile every time she remembered this fact beyond pleased about the fact.
She was on her way to leave even if she was going to be there early when she noticed someone was standing behind her window and gasped ready to scream. Luckily, she recognized Botan, the Spirit Guide, she met at Kuwabara's house almost just as quickly as she saw her and didn't startle her granny or the whole street with her shrieking.
Nana quickly opened her window and blinked, 'Botan-chan, what are you doing here? Is everyone alright?'
The blue-haired girl smiled, 'Always so caring about others. Kurama is a lucky guy to land such a sweet thing like you, Nana-chan.'
The raven-haired girl felt the familiar embarrassment taking over and before she could correct Botan and tell her she wasn't right, the ferry girl spoke again, 'I actually came to talk to you about something if that is alright.'
Nana blinked and nodded allowing the girl to climb into her room, 'You could use the door. Kurama has a habit of this as well, and it's silly since granny doesn't mind his comings and goings.'
She realized too late that it was a stupid thing to say as Botan's brow rose up, and she gave the other girl a playful look.
'Anyway, you were saying,' said Nana quickly hoping to get Botan back on track. The other girl nodded, 'Yes, of course, I came to give you this.'
Nana blinked at the pink pocket mirror Botan settled into her palms.
'Uh, thank you? But you didn't have to bring me anything. It's not my birthday.'
Botan chuckled, 'I know, silly. This isn't an ordinary mirror but a special one to help you contact me in Reikai in case you need me during the time the boys will be out of reach.'
Nana blinked, 'Oh, I see. Thank you.' She doubted she would need to contact Reikai since she was never directly associated with them in any way. Usually, she was mostly in the background of Kurama's cases hearing details only from him. Even the single yokai attack and involvement with Hiei was due to his connection to Kurama.
Her face fell a bit.
'What's wrong?' asked Botan, 'I have one in blue color if you like it more.'
Nana looked at her and giggled, 'No, it's fine. Pretty in pink even, but I just realized that it means the time for the others to leave is coming and that I won't see them for a while and know how they are doing.' Apart from the time she was upset with Kurama because he didn't tell her how he planned to save Shiori-san's life, or when he left for Demon City they only spared a few days apart and Nana wasn't worried about his wellbeing. The idea that she wouldn't be able to see him for weeks knowing he was in constant danger. She would be worried about everyone. Yusuke, Kuwabara because they were human of course, but also about Hiei because like a cat he just grew on her. However, Nana was certain she would be terrified about Kurama wondering day and not if he was alive and if he won his matches. Even if she told him she trusted he would make it out alive, and she knew she did trust him, at the moment she felt almost irrationally afraid.
Fuku jumped on the bed and brushed his head against Botan thigh which forced the girl to pat him while saying, 'It's going to be alright, Nana-chan. I can tell Kurama has a lot to come back to just as the others.'
Nana looked at her and tried her best to smile. She didn't like the idea to be a crybaby in front of Botan again, 'I know. The best I can do is to support him mentally and make sure he knows I believe in him.'
She stood up and Fuku jumped off the bed heading somewhere into the small hallway.
'Are you busy right now?' asked Nana and smiled at the girl who blinked confused, 'Not at all, why?'
'Say, would you like to join me on a small adventure?'
'What the…,' mumbled the Kuwabara as Kurama once again carried him this time to the location Nana was supposed to wait for them with food.
It was quite a picture. Hiei and Botan were both already present, although how the Spirit Guide heard of their little gathering, Kurama didn't know. She and Hiei seemed to be in some exchange while Nana was preparing the food they would eat when suddenly Hiei hissed at the Spirit Guide, and the blue-haired girl jumped away like a scared cat cowering down by Nana's leg holding onto her apron and telling her something while pointing at Hiei.
Nana, for her part, turned toward the yokai and without a single hesitation tapped his forehead with her ladle expressing some sort of displeasure as far as Kurama could tell based on the slight frown across her forehead.
The yokai looked shocked for a second while Nana told him something with a firm look on her face no doubt threatening not to give him anything to eat if he didn't behave.
Clearly, it was enough of a threat for Hiei since he looked away and mumbled something before glancing at Botan and mumbling something toward her as well.
The girl nodded and slowly stood up from her place by Nana's side who smiled to herself and return to her cooking. The whole exchange made it seem like Nana was the mother trying to make peace between her two children while cooking.
Perhaps, Yusuke was right. Perhaps, Nana was like a mother figure to the group. Always caring, worrying, and making sure everyone was fed. She wasn't in danger or on the sidelines completely clueless of what was happening as often as Keiko, and she didn't get involved with cases directly as an assistant as did Botan, but she did have a role in the group as, despite her lack of spiritual awareness or fighting skills, she offered something only she could give to them all and somehow found a place of her own.
'Whoa,' said Kuwabara beside him, and he turned to him with a smile expecting the ginger-haired man to be surprised due to Nana's negotiation skills with Hiei. However, his taller human friend was looking directly at him seemingly missing the entire exchange in front of him in favor of watching the kitsune.
Kurama's amusement melted, and his smile faded as he all of the sudden felt far too self-aware and that Kuwabara caught onto something he usually kept hidden. Although they were allies even friends now, the redhead knew he wasn't as open with the boy as he was with Nana or perhaps even Hiei. They knew each other only shortly and the kitsune simply wasn't capable to allow people to see him completely so easily. It was hard to let go of his mask for anyone.
'What is it?' he asked almost fearing the answer but still finding it impossible not to know what the other boy was thinking.
Kuwabara blinked, 'Well, it's just…when you look at Nana like that you seem different.'
Kurama frowned and Kuwabara quickly rose his palms in defense, 'No, no, it's not a bad thing. It's just usually you're very serious and even when you seem friendly it's most polite and appropriate like I thought that was how you just were but now you looked genuinely…well soft, but not like you're soft, but like Nana makes you truly well soft but-'
Vulnerable
'Damn, sorry, man, I'm babbling. Never mind me,' he said and shook his head walking toward the others who now apparently behaved better as Hiei and Botan sat on the same log but far enough for both of them to be comfortable.
Kurama, however, couldn't let it go. He didn't like the idea that someone would assume he was soft or worse vulnerable even if it was for Nana and even if that someone who knew was Kuwabara. Because if he could see it, who couldn't then?
Nana passed everyone a plate and they collectively thanked her before they started to eat. She figured since they were in the woods, she could make some basic ramen, making sure to use almost everything she brought so they wouldn't have too many things to carry back.
They all sat down on the ground or an old fallen tree with Hiei and Kurama on the other side of her and Kuwabara and Botan opposite from them since neither wanted to sit too close to Hiei. Nana would have thought it was rude except she was pretty sure the shorter yokai was more than glad about the decision.
'Yo, Botan, how come you're here, ha? You missed us or something?' asked Kuwabara while eating almost choking from how quickly he ate the food without swallowing no doubt hungry but still making Nana worried, 'Slow down, it would be a bad sign if you died on choking on my food, don't you think?'
'But worth it,' mumbled Hiei beside her which caused her to show him a look.
'I happened to be in the neighborhood, and Nana-chan asked me to join her,' explained the blue-haired girl, and she and Nana shared a small smile.
Although Kuwabara seemed to buy it and Hiei didn't seem to care about it, Kurama glanced at Nana and kept his eyes on her for a second too long making her immediately know he realized they were sharing a small secret. The idea made her smile widened a bit as she already planned to toy with him a bit about it later.
On the day of their departure, Nana made sure to put on the best supportive face and happy smile she could as she finished getting dressed in the morning.
Kurama and the others had a long road ahead of him to even get to the ship that would take them to the Hanging Neck Island where the tournament would take place.
'Good morning, Shiori-san,' she greeted the woman as she came into Kurama's house that day without breakfast not sure her uneasy stomach would agree with any food at that moment. She felt too tense and only hoped the other woman wouldn't notice. Luckily, mainly due to her deepening relationship with Hatanaka Kazuya who has finally introduced to Kurama and her a couple of weeks ago, she was mostly in a state of constant cloud-like happiness and didn't seem to notice Kurama's dirty and ruined clothing or Nana's stress. The girl didn't blame her. It must have been nice to be in love for the first time in such a long time, and Hatanaka-san seemed like a proper man who even got on Kurama's good side. It was a small miracle since as long as Nana could remember, the yokai even before he gained his memories back never liked any of his mother's suitors. She sometimes wondered if it was yokai possessiveness he occasionally expressed toward her as well.
'Good morning, Nana-chan. Are you here to say goodbye to Shuichi-kun?' asked Shiori-san calmly with an aura of bliss around her that somehow made Nana feel better if only because for a long time the woman looked nothing but unwell and miserable.
She nodded and the other woman let her in.
While she was putting off her shoes, Shiori-san leaned into her ear and whispered in a girly way, 'Did you put your hair down for him?'
Nana closed her eyes knowing the blush settled across her face. She would be lying if she didn't admit at least in the dark corner of her mind that she hoped not even a telepath such as Hiei could find, that yes she did spend slightly more time getting ready and figuring out what to wear. Ultimately, she settled for the only nice yellow summer dress with semi-long sleeves she could find, white sandals she wore so many times the heels were slightly scuffed, and put her hair down for once.
'Don't say such silly things, Shiori-san,' she said putting the sandals neatly into the corridor before she ran up the stairs ignoring the other woman's giggle. Why did she want to make fun of her so badly?
'Your mother is being mean,' said Nana as she opened the door only to take a step back as she found Kurama standing in front of the mirror dressed in a white martial arts outfit with gold trim and pink sash tied around the left side of his waists. It looked so different and serious. Nana never saw him properly used his abilities in a fight. Even in the woods, she only met with the boys after their training. She knew Kurama had to be good and skilled and Kuwabara didn't seem to exaggerate when he called the kitsune a beast to describe their fights. However, to see him dressed in such a way without his usual uniform added a certain level of reality and seriousness making the girl once again feel a cold shiver down her back realizing it was really happening.
How stupid? Didn't you come to say goodbye to him and wish him good luck? Of course, he was leaving.
Nana felt a sense of shame over her own foolishness.
When Kurama turned around to face her for a second seemed to stir but before Nana could analyze his face closer, he was already calmed and his usual self, 'I can hardly believe that.'
Before Nana could ask, Kurama raised his brows, 'That my mother would be mean to you. She loves you almost like you were her own daughter.'
Nana smiled upon hearing that and walked inside pushing whatever unnecessary feelings settled inside her as far away as possible, 'Alright, she's mostly teasing anyway. You ready?'
For some reason, she felt her palms sweat and quickly hid them behind her back.
The redhead nodded slowly and took a step closer to her. She noticed he had a small bag ready on the bed, 'Mother of course thinks I'm heading to the botany club gathering in the mountains. I will have to switch trains.'
Nana hummed walking closer as well, 'Can you do something for me?'
He offered her a small smile, 'I can try.'
'Show me your hand and close your eyes,' she said and noticed he blinked surprised clearly expecting her to do something else.
However, Kurama trusted her enough to do as she asked even though she knew he was sort of a control freak who always needed to be aware of everything.
Taking a deep breath, Nana pulled out her green ribbon from her pocket where she safely tugged it after she didn't put it on this morning and easily wrapped it around his wrist with the ribbon on the back part of his wrist, 'All done.'
The kitsune opened his green eyes and immediately looked at the ribbon that was tied to him.
She coughed a bit to clear her throat and spoke sensing some of the pressure return to her chest, 'It will probably be the longest we won't see each other…and you know for good luck,' she quickly added still feeling somewhat silly about doing such a strange thing in the first place.
He chuckled in the most delightful way looking at the ribbon on his wrist with almost endless fondness.
When his green eyes shift to hers, she saw something tender inside and for a second it seemed like he was going to hug her or perhaps do something else before he blinked it away and instead say, 'I have something for you too. Close your eyes.'
She smirked, 'Thief. Stealing my line is rude.'
'Close your eyes, Nana,' he repeated again calmly with a small smile across his face, 'Be a good girl.'
The pressure inside her stomach tightened upon hearing that but she rolled her eyes all the same and closed them. For a moment in the darkness behind her eyelids she could only sense Kurama moving from in front of her for a second and then appearing again taking her hand in his, 'You can open them.'
Nana blinked at him and then down at the hand he was still holding. Around her wrist was the same ribbon she had just tied around his own wrist making them match. It was the second ribbon she used to wear as a child. A ribbon, Kurama stole from her when they were younger along with other of her belongings keeping them in his little den in his closet.
'You didn't have to give it to me,' she said lowering her voice, 'I know it's important for you to keep it in…,' she bit her lip not sure if calling it a nest was the right word for it.
His expression softened again, 'Kitsunes like to keep their dents filled with scents that calm them and…,' his smile was almost a definition of a dirty secret. Nana found it impossible to ask him to continue fearing the answer and the slowly increasing beating of her heart and hotness in her face.
She quickly lowered her gaze down at the ribbons on their wrist and smiled, 'We match now.'
'That we do.'
Looking at the two ribbons she recalled so many of their childhood and teenage memories. All their cheerful and sorrowful days. All the time, they were together rarely apart. She couldn't remember the time before she met him, and she didn't even want to anymore.
'Kurama,' she said and looked up at him wondering if he could read the storm of emotions in her heart, 'Please, please, just…just make sure you,' she closed her eyes finding it hard to voice what she wanted for him before she felt his arms around her as he pulled her against his chest.
Her eyes opened as she felt his hand against her hair and the bottom of his chin over the top of her head, 'Nana, I promise.'
She let out a deep sigh some of the tension leaving her body as she quickly hugged him back and nodded against his chest mouthing thank you over his clothes hoping it would be enough.
Her mother and Nana walked Kurama to the train station, but of course, they both acted like he was just going to an event with his botany club. They also met Kuwabara who nervously and a bit awkwardly introduced himself to Shiori-san and shared a brief conversation with her. They shared a short hug not revealing anything too much except for Kurama nodding at her one more time before he stepped inside the train.
Nana's hand automatically reached over to the ribbon on her other wrist and her fingers gently touched the fabric wondering if Kurama would now think of her whenever he touched his.
'Come on, Nana-chan. He will be back before you know it,' said Shiori-san and put her arm around Nana's shoulders, who nodded at the woman and offered her a fake smile that no doubt wasn't very decent.
The following couple of days passed in a strange blur. Nana found it hard to even recall what she was doing most of the time. It was as if she was in a dream and kept on waking up occasionally to realize where she was and what she was doing.
Nana started her two weeks' vacation that which ultimately proved to be a cruse as without Kurama around the girl had little to do and couldn't stop herself from constantly thinking about what was happening with him and if he was alright. She figured it would be hard, but the waves of fear and sickness that washed over her were simply too much at times making it hard for her to sleep or eat or even stay in reality.
How am I supposed to deal with this for almost two weeks now?
Honestly, the idea itself caused the raven-haired girl to fall into a state of hopelessness.
The knock-on her bedroom window tore the girl from her struggling thoughts.
When she looked up, Nana found the familiar blue-haired ferry girl enthusiastically waving at her which eased the frown from her face as she smiled back at Botan while opening her window, 'Hi Botan-chan. Thank you for stopping by.'
The girl waved her hand, 'Don't be silly, Nana-chan. I'm ecstatic you called.'
Nana chuckled feeling slightly better now that someone was with her. It was mostly the loneliness that was getting her. If she was with her granny, Shiori-san, or that one time she called Mina to found out how her classmate was during the summer break, she more or less calmed herself and thought about the present rather than the possibilities of what was going on with the Urameshi team. However, once she was on her own even busing herself with work her thoughts always seemed to slip into the unwanted territory of what-ifs. Apart from the fear it also brought annoyance since it felt like Nana was betraying the boys by thinking they wouldn't be able to handle themselves. They were all capable fighters that already saved the human realm many times before so she shouldn't be so quick to feel worried about them, but despite this reasoning, the girl just couldn't help it. Especially wondering how her redhead best friend was doing.
'I'm glad,' said Nana to Botan, 'I hope I didn't take you away from your work.'
Botan chuckled, 'Nonsense. Some time off will do me good. Besides, it's quite dull to return to simple ferry girl duties with the boys away.'
Nana thought about it, 'It must have been hectic when you were doing both being a Spirit Guide and the Detective's Assistant.'
Botan jumped on Nana's bed and stretched a bit probably to adjust in her body. On their walk to the woods two weeks ago the girl partly explained how she couldn't usually be seen and touched in the Human Realm since in reality, she was only a spirit too, 'Actually, it was. As a ferry girl, I sometimes felt bored in the sense that I could be doing more to fill the time. Doing work with Yusuke filled up that spare time nicely. Now I'm back to not having enough to do,' sighed the girl rather annoying which was a surprise change given how she was always cheerful.
Nana nodded, 'I get it. On my off days, I always feel like I have too much time on my hands too. Although, Kurama always says it's just because I don't spend as much time studying as I should,' she chuckled to herself and scratched the back of her head a bit embarrassed before she realized what she said and gained a much serious attitude again.
Her brown eyes lifted to the blue-haired girl in the room, 'Botan-chan, do you…know something?'
A sense of compassion passed across the other girl's face before she nodded, 'Last I heard they successfully survived getting on the island. They were in a fight with other teams who were on their ship but luckily came out victorious. The tournament should start tomorrow.'
Nana took the information in nodding as if she understood completely what Botan was saying. All in all, it didn't matter. What mattered was that for now they were all alright and Nana could sleep knowing nothing bad should happen to them tonight.
'They will be alright, Nana-chan. They all worked very hard, and all of them are very good and capable fighters, you know?'
'I know,' said the girl and grimaced, 'It's this place that doesn't seem to get that,' said Nana and placed her hand across her chest over her heart.
Botan offered her a small smile as the kindred spirit that she was, and despite her anxiety, Nana felt not for the first time a sense of connection to the girl. The same one she felt when they were on their walk toward the woods.
With a small sigh to gather her feelings and push the gloomiest ones away, Nana clapped her hands and state, 'Alright, enough of that. I asked you here to have some fun and take my mind off things. So what would you like to do? Anything you were ever interested in doing in the Ningenkai but Yusuke said it's too girly or boring?'
Botan's eyes sparkled as if she was a little girl about to receive her gifts on Christmas and Nana giggled a bit at the sight thinking the girl was very adorable.
Before she could answer, however, the girls heard Nana's granny call out to her, 'Nana, your friends are here!'
The raven-haired girl blinked not masking the confusion before she shared a look with Botan.
'What friends? I don't have any friends,' said Nana rather honestly since the only friend she had for sure was still Kurama. With Botan, they were perhaps at the beginning of being friends and Mina was still more of a classmate than an actual friend so who would come over and suggest they were friends. Also, who would be worthy enough for her granny to allow them to be let inside?
The knock-on her bedroom door caused Nana to pause and glance at Botan who all of the sudden lost her confusion and perhaps concern, 'It's Shizuru-chan and Keiko-chan.'
Just as she said that she heard Keiko's voice, 'Nana-chan, can we come in?'
The raven-haired girl opened the door and allowed both girls to enter, 'Hello.'
It was strange to see the other girls in her room. It was also a bit odd to have Botan here, but Nana asked her to come so she got in term with that far sooner, 'Is everything alright?'
'Nana-chan, have you seen Yusuke or Kuwabara lately?' asked Keiko with a pleading look on her face her hands pressed her hands together as if she was praying.
Nana froze in place.
No.
She stole a glance at Botan, whose eyes were wide for a second before she immediately started to shake her head to indicate that Nana shouldn't tell her.
The raven-haired girl glanced back at the brunette who still looked like a sad puppy. It was really unfair of Keiko to do this really. Nana didn't like the idea that the girl was in the dark about Yusuke's detective work. His real detective work. But as she told Kurama, it wasn't her secret to tell. Just as she had to wait for Kurama to be honest with her, Keiko deserved the truth and everything to be told by Yusuke to her. It wouldn't be right if she told her. Not to mention, given the seriousness of what was happening in the Dark Tournament, Nana was positive she wasn't supposed to tell anyone about it.
Keeping that in mind the girl carefully shook her head and very slowly said hoping Kami would forgive her for this sin, 'No, I haven't seen Yusuke-kun or Kuwabara-kun.' As her clever kitsune friend always told her. The best way to lie to someone was to tell them the truth.
Keiko's face fell a bit, but Shizuru didn't seem to fall for it that easily as she took a step closer to the girl, 'Well, when was the last time you did see them?'
Nana glanced at her wondering if she could see the sweat running down her face, 'Well, I haven't seen Yusuke-kun for about a month or so. I can't even remember the last time he was in the dinner, and I didn't see Kuwabara-san for a couple of days now.'
Shizuru still didn't look too impressed, and Nana wondered if she could change the topic by asking what was this all about but before she opened her mouth Keiko spoke again, 'What about Kurama? Could you take us to him to ask him? Perhaps he will know if the boys are in trouble again.'
Nana grimaced.
If the boys are in trouble Kurama is definitely along with them for the ride.
'Kurama is not at home at the moment,' she said cryptically, and the older girl openly frowned at her, 'I think we established before that you're not a very good liar, Nana.'
'It's not a lie. I can take you to his house. He's not home. He won't be for a couple of weeks now,' said Nana. At least that part was true, so she didn't have to worry about Shizure reading through it.
Keiko's head fell a bit, and her voice dropped into a very sad tone, 'I just want to know if he's alright.'
Nana and Shizuru looked over at the girl, 'He threw a rock at my window before leaving and told me he was heading to train to the mountains again, but I went there on Monday, and no one was there. I waited almost the whole day by the temple, but no one showed up,' she frowned a bit, 'I hate feeling like this.'
Nana closed her eyes wishing the girl hadn't said that as she could clearly relate to those feelings from the time, she was in the dark about Kurama's secrets. She was always torn back them between being a good supportive friend and wanting to know to the truth. It hurt to be in the dark about this. It made her feel like she wasn't good enough to know the truth. It felt like Kurama didn't trust her and for the person, she was so close to and cared for so deeply not to trust caused Nana to often feel worthless.
'Maybe,' started the raven-haired girl, 'Maybe we could make an exception,' said Nana looking from Keiko to Shizuru, 'Maybe it's not about telling someone else's secret but about making the other person know their loved one was alright and-,' she turned around to look at Botan who was at the moment the only authority she had about the supernatural things only to find the girl partly out of her window in an attempt to sneak out.
Nana's hopeful face fell, and she shot the girl a look, 'Seriously?'
Botan brushed the back of her head and awkwardly laughed, 'Well, you seemed to be doing so well, so I didn't want to'
Nana rolled her eyes and quickly grabbed the back of her shirt pulling her back into the room onto her bed, 'Oh, no, you don't. I don't even have Spiritual Awareness so it's absolutely stupid for me to be the person to explain this to them. This is your field. Come here.'
'But-but I can't. No one is supposed to know about this. Kurama shouldn't even tell you, but he trusts you and-'
Shizuru pushed past Nana and appeared in front of Botan's and based on the look on the ferry girl's face it was obvious she held some sort of fearful respect for the young woman, 'Look, I'm not interested in any secrets that don't concern me. But my brother is my interest. So, if he and the others are in trouble. I want to know. I deserve to know.'
Nana couldn't really argue with that.
Keiko came to kneel on the floor in front of Botan who was still on the bed from the other side, 'Botan-chan, please. Tell us what you know. We're friends, right?'
Botan looked horrified Keiko would ask her like that Nana and could relate since it was very hard to stay firm when Keiko acted so sweetly and innocently.
The Spirit Guide glanced from Keiko's pleading face to Shizuru's determinate to Nana who offered her a small smile and nod of encouragement before ultimately Botan sighed and told the girls everything.
'We have to go there,' said Keiko after a moment the two girls apparently needed to come to terms with the new information.
Nana blinked in surprise that mimicked Botan's as they shared a look, 'What? No.'
'Yes,' said Keiko with a confidence she didn't possess a moment ago.
Nana took a step closer to the girl, 'What good will it do if we go there?'
'We can stop them from fighting,' stated Keiko and Nana glanced at Shizuru to see the younger woman slightly frown but stay silent so Nana sighed and said, 'We can't stop them. It was their choice not to mention if they didn't come people could get hurt or killed. Innocent people.' Her mind refused to even allow herself to think about it. But it was true if the boys didn't go everyone they cared about (Shiori-san, her, her granny, and many others) would be in danger.
'All the more reason why we should go there,' argued Keiko causing Nana to frown a bit at the girl as she sounded almost like a brat at that moment.
'That's not up to you. According to Botan, this is an island full of yokai. Those aren't all that nice to humans, you know? They eat people especially people like psychics who can sense them,' she glanced at Shizuru, 'Besides we have no way of getting there, and wouldn't it just add to the boys' plate if on top of everything they would have to worry about us as well?'
It wasn't that she didn't understand Keiko's need to be with Yusuke at the moment because she did probably more than the girl knew, or that she liked to argue with people because in no way Nana enjoyed confrontations, but how could she be true to herself and not reason with Keiko when she was being like this.
'You don't get it,' argued Keiko.
'Yes, I do.'
'No, you obviously don't. Clearly, you don't care for Kurama as much as I do about you because if you did you would agree with me-,' she stopped talking as Shizuru suddenly put her hand on her shoulder probably to signal to the brunette she went too far.
Nana let the younger girl's words soak in before she full-on glared at her and told her in the best firm and cold voice she could make at that moment, 'You don't get to tell me of how much I care for my best friend. Stop being a brat.'
Although it came out very serious and strong, Nana felt she was shaking and rather than stay in the room any longer and argue with Keiko right now she turned around and left needing a moment to herself not to break down in front of so many people.
In the small hallway, the raven-haired girl took a deep breath while she heard muffled voices from her room as the girls must have continued the discussion.
'Nana-chan,' she heard her granny's voice and quickly rushed to her bedroom where the door was open, 'Sorry, are we being too loud. I can tell the girls to leave.' In fact, at that moment, Nana would be more than happy to tell everyone to leave her alone.
'You're planning to go to Shuichi's camp?' asked the old woman instead.
Nana closed her mouth shut. So she heard some of the argument then. Hopefully, not too much although Kurama confessed not so long ago he had a feeling her grandma knew about him or at least suspected as she occasionally hinted at things or repeated their lies as if she was mocking them.
'You should go.'
Nana blinked surprised and came closer to the woman sitting down next to her on the bed, 'Why? It's…it's not for us. It's a boys thing.' She hoped her granny wouldn't pry but of course, she didn't. She never did. Nana probably got that from her. Even if she wished to know and satisfy her curiosity or simply help if she could, she never pushed people for answers and truth as she felt those had to come from the person's free will not by any kind of pressure.
'Ah, I think four girls can squeeze in just fine,' said the woman with a chuckle, 'It will be good for you, Nana-chan. You walk around like a ghost,' she jabbed a finger between Nana's ribs causing the girl to jump a bit, 'Granny!'
'You're so hung up on that boy. Go see him. It will calm your soul to see him no matter what he's doing,' she always spoke like that on the bridge of knowing and simply being a wise elderly woman. Nana couldn't really tell anymore with her which one was it.
The raven-haired girl looked away. It had been a while since she was in her granny's bedroom. Not much has changed. She wondered if it always looked like this even when her own mother was little.
'I'm not hung up on Shuichi,' stated Nana stubbornly, 'He's my best friend. It's hard to be apart when we're always together. Nothing more.'
'You should go,' said her granny again, 'It will show you what real friends look like.'
Nana blinked and gave the older woman an odd look, 'What does that suppose to mean?'
Her granny chuckled and stroked her cheek, 'That you and Shuichi are not friends. Perhaps never were. Perhaps ever since you met you were something more and simply labeled it as friendships since it was the only term you knew back then and that it came close to what you two have. But you're growing up and he's wising up. You're not children anymore ignorant of the world around you. Make friends, Nana-chan. Learn what friends feel. Learn the difference between friendship and more. You will understand then.'
Nana watched her granny feeling the familiar pressure and sense of something warm inside her stomach before she pushed it away rather than saying, 'How can I leave you? I will go for days maybe weeks. And also, what if he doesn't want me there. What if…what if it will only cause him to worry more and be distracted and…what if he doesn't want me in that part of his life,' she said hoping she didn't reveal too much frowning annoyed at how easily she said those things out loud. She should have bitten into her tongue instead.
'Kami, you're too young to be stuck in this house all day. Especially during your vacation,' said her granny and leaned closer to press a kiss against her cheek, 'Make sure he knows you're there. That sort of thing always gets the man to become stronger and fight harder. He might act like he's above all that but when it comes to you deep down the animal inside him awakes.'
The words made Nana blush and wonder if her granny knew the through about Kurama, 'I will call you every day.'
'Eh, not every day. Once a week is enough. I have a life too, you know?' joked her granny and Nana laughed giving the older woman a hug and trying to absorb as much of her scent and comfort as she could at that moment, 'I love you.'
'I love you too, Nana-chan,' she patted her back, 'Now, go before your friends will leave without you.'
The girl nodded and quickly rushed back into the room just as Keiko stood up, 'Nana-chan, I'm sorry. You're right I was a brat.'
Nana was surprised by her outburst since honestly, she forgot about it after the talk she had with her granny. Still, the raven-haired girl smiled and brushed Keiko shoulders, 'Don't worry about it. I'm sorry too. I get why you're upset. I want to see Kurama too,' she confessed the last part in a hushed voice before she glanced at Botan who was on the bed with Shizuru who was smoking by the open window now, 'It's up to you really. You're the only one who can get us to the island, and you're the only Reikai authority we have so what do you think, Botan?'
The girl pressed against the wall as the other three human girls looked at her waiting for what she will decide. She seemed nervous and clearly not pleased with the turn of events or Nana's decision to let her be the one to call the shots, but after a second of hesitation and concerns running across her features, the blue-haired girl took a deep breath while closing her eyes.
When she opened them, Botan let out a sigh but ultimately offered the girls a smile, 'Well, alright then.'
A.N: Thank you for reading, I hope you liked the chapters so far. Stay safe and have a nice day