Kurama.

In the bright afternoon sunlight, we sat across from each other at my desk in the back of class. Her chopsticks remained untouched in front of her open lunch, and for the past five minutes I watched her glare at me, as if I was hypocritical for not having food today.

I ignored the glares easily and kept my attention on the small, translated novel of Paradise Lost I had in front of me. It wasn't until she slid a small yellow notebook across the desk that I bothered to look up from the text.

"Here," she said.

Without looking at it, I remembered the set of notes I took for her. She watched me with a confused look as I pulled out a small, black notebook and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked, taking it with her free hand as with the other she picked out a triangular rice ball decorated with nori to look like a cat. Swallowing her food, she mumbled. "Calculus?" *

"Japanese Sign Language?" I read the title of the yellow book.

"Well, I figured you may want to actually like, hold a simple conversation with my mom and not need a fellow Hojo to translate," she said, flipping through the first few pages. "You guys are ahead of us?"

I took another glance at the book before slipping it in my bag for another time. "Yes, I figured you'd want the notes to help."

She nodded as a sort of sadness glazed over her eyes. "Yeah, I would… Thanks."

I didn't reply and we sat in silence. She ate slowly as I read, and she didn't utter another word until a couple of classmates began making their way towards us.

"Watanabe, Miyu, and Saito, Mayaka, at nine o' clock," she muttered.

I glanced to my right, finding the tall dyed-blonde and her shorter, raven haired friend next to my desk.

"You made first in the class again, Minamino!" Watanabe smiled.

"Congratulations!" Saito said, glancing to Aiko. "Oh, sorry, are we interrupting something?"

"No," she replied easily, eyes glancing out the window to avoid watching the gushes of praise.

"Oh?" I said, feigning confusion to drop the subject out of courtesy. "I guess I got lucky."

"You are so apathetic, Minamino!" Saito pouted. "You should be more thrilled. You were four points away from a perfect score!"

I glanced up to the shorter girl and her friend, smiling, before returning to my novel. "I am thrilled."

I quickly looked back to the blonde, noticing something that ought not to be on her shoulder.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing behind them.

Aiko glanced with the two to the doors as I quickly, quietly, grabbed the grey insect off Watanabe's shoulder. I clutched the insect in my hand, crushing it in my grip, as the girls looked back to me.

"What?" Saito asked.

"I don't see anything," Watanabe said. "What are you talking about?"

Aiko stared at me before resting her chin in her hand and looking out the window.

"Must have been imagining things," I replied with an apologetic smile.

"Oh?" Watanabe shrugged. "Well, then, Minamino, after you two finish eating…"

"Sorry," I said, returning to my novel. "I'd really like to finish this book."

Watanabe glanced to Aiko, who didn't bother looking up.

"Okay!" Saito smiled and then looked between Aiko and I. "Hey, since it's Friday night, a couple of us are going out to that new karaoke lounge that opened! Would you two like to come?"

"Oh, no thanks," I replied.

"It'll be me, Isayashi from class two-A, and Isobe," Saito said.

"I would come but I'm busy." Watanabe shrugged.

"We sing American hits! Most of us want to go overseas and this is a fun way to practice. Are you sure you wouldn't want to come? Aiko?"

"Uh…" she stuttered, surprised that classmates would still want to hang out with her after her status with Natsume. The social elite, many of them now graduated, were more partial to her, not the average student. "Maybe… I'm trying to start a lab early tonight. If I finish, then maybe I'll go."

"That's great!" Saito smiled and turned with Watanabe, waving goodbye. "I hope you can convince Minamino to come too! Just let me know later!"

"Yeah…" Aiko waved slowly at them as they walked out of the class before glancing to me.

"I'd prefer not to go," I said simply.

"That's not why I'm looking at you."

"Then?"

"The thing on her shoulder..." she paused, voice quieting. "Was it really a…"

"A bug." I glanced up to her, meeting her stare, remembering the last time we encountered a Makai insect.

"We can barely make it a few months without something happening…" she mumbled, taking another small bite out of her rice ball before using her free hand to give me some of her napkins.

"A bug is normal," I replied quietly, wiping the gunk off my hand. "They slip through all the time."

"Remember when it was normal last time?" she scoffed.

I sighed. She was right.

"If something was happening," I reassured her. "We would be notified."

With a quick shrug, she glanced back out the window, staring down at the closed front gate in the distance.

"I guess… At least Natsume's not here to see it."

I nodded in silence, and time passed as the clock neared the end of our lunch. Seconds before the bell chimed, she looked up to me.

"You sure you don't want to go out tonight?" she asked. "I think it could be fun. "

"Really, I'll have to pass."

For some reason, I still couldn't bring myself to branch out farther in this life. Perhaps if previous circumstances had worked out differently... And then again, perhaps not.

"Then will you start that chemistry lab with me? The unknown cation one? I could really use your help since it's a two parter."

I agreed, despite knowing I shouldn't have. I knew what I was getting into, staying late on campus during the first week. The sunset bathed the lab room a deep orange. I watched as the liquid in the test tube front of me turned a vibrant purple as I tried tuning out the club member's pleas that came from behind me.

I was debating on waiting for him to tire himself out, talk himself to death, but Aiko's patience was wearing thin and she would get to him before that happened.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Aiko grumbled from the other side of the lab bench, watching the various club members surround me. "Hello, Sorata? Get the fuck away from him! I need his help to finish this lab!"

"Please, Minamino, I'm begging you!"

"School hours are now over," the announcer spoke softly over the intercom. "Students remaining on school ground, please return home promptly."

"What's it like to have the most popular guy in school as a boyfriend?" Isayashi, a boy in room 2A who was here to use our lab results to write his lab report, snickered to Aiko.

"Shut up!" she screamed, face blushing a deep red underneath her foundation.

I cringed at her volume as Isayashi practically jumped out of his seat.

She leaned over the glass beakers to rip the heads off the club members. "We have one more practice cation to do and then you can ream him over this bench to your heart's delight. Until this is over, leave him alone!"

"Thank you for your support, Aiko," I sighed and then turned to face the small group.

"Be the club president! I'm asking you sincerely!" Sorata pressed his hands together in a sincere prayer and bowed his head.

"I'm only a second year," I replied. "Besides, I honestly don't feel obligated."

"Hear that, Sorata?" she snapped. "Beat it so I can finish this fucking lab!"

Any other time I was sure she would be helpful, but seeing as how exams scores were posted earlier and she didn't even make it into the top fifty, she wasn't looking out for my best interest in this room. Even telling her about the arsonist's capture at Misawa Airport didn't matter to her.

All that mattered now was pulling up her grade.

"No!" Sorata lifted his head, pleading. "That's not true! You're the only one who can save our weak biology club!"

The two club members behind him nodded, and then he continued.

"You, who are at the top of your class and are so popular with the girl students, are the only one who can win us a student council budget increase!"

"I was going to say something really mean," Aiko laughed dryly. "But I'm not even going to lie, like if Shuichi joined your club, you all would probably, actually, be on some girls' radars."

"You are not helping, Aiko," I said, glancing over my shoulder.

"Please!" he begged, wide eyes closing behind his thick glasses as he began cornering me against the bench.

His friends then chorused in and clasped their hands together to plea.

"Bunch of fucking creeps," Aiko growled, rounding the bench.

"I'm flattered to have you say so," I said to Sorata, forcing a polite smile as I inched away from them. "But I'm sorry, I have to decline."

Aiko latched onto two of the boys' collars to keep them in place as I headed for the door. Sorata was free of her grip, though, and he stumbled over a stool, pushing it aside as ran past me to block the door.

"Look at how you're acting, Sorata!" she snapped over the echoes of the rattling stool against the tiled floor. "Leave us alone!"

"Please!" Sorata begged. "Wait!"

"Yeah, come on, guys," Isayashi sighed from his seat. "I need their results. I messed mine up last class." When nobody replied, he got up from his seat and began heading for the other door in the lab. "I bet there's still a teacher on campus… You guys are annoying."

"I'm not moving from this spot until you say 'yes'!" Sorata snapped.

I rubbed the back of my head, knowing that if I headed for the other door he'd break his leg trying to get there before I did.

"I don't know what to do," I sighed, wondering if there was a way to slip powder up his nose without his friends watching.

I could have Aiko distract them… No, even then it would be obvious I did something if he were to drop unconscious. It was then, in my moment of thinking, I could hear a familiar voice I hadn't heard in a while.

"Kurama!"

A voice I shouldn't hear on campus.

"Oh my god…" Aiko choked, letting go of the club members' collars as her face paled. They instantly ran from her.

"That voice…" I looked around the room, letting my gaze settling on the windows to see if he was at the front gate.

No, his voice was too close.

"Where are you?! Come out!"

"Minamino!" Sorata's begging pulled me out of my train of thought. I backed away from the boy as he stepped closer to me. "Please! Say 'yes', okay?"

"I don't exactly have time for this right now."

"Just say yes, okay?" he continued.

"Kurama!"

"Please say—"

Sorata was cut short. Kuwabara shot through the closed door foot first, screaming my name as he rode the broken door in the air before letting it crash down on Sorata from behind.

"There you are!" Kuwabara sighed in relief once his frantic gaze set on me.

"Are you daft, motherfu—"

"Kuwabara," I whispered, cutting off Aiko as she marched to us. "That is not my name here."

"Sorry!" he said with the shake of his head. "It's an emergency."

"Kurama?" one club member asked.

"Who's that? You, Minamino?" the other concluded.

"Ah! Pay no attention," I replied hastily. "It's a nickname. Right? Kuwabara-kun?"

Aiko leaned out the room to see if any of our peers were curious of the commotion as Botan ran inside.

"My name is Shuichi here," I whispered. "Minamino, Shuichi."

He nodded, committing it to memory. "Shit. Sorry, man..."

"Well?!" Aiko snapped at the two club members. "What are you waiting for? Sorata's injured, go get help!"

The two jumped out of their skin at her tone and quickly scrambled out of the classroom, yet she was far from satisfied as she eyed the three of us.

"What's happened?" I asked, remembering the bug from earlier.

"Yusuke's been kidnapped!" Botan replied.

"Here!" Kuwabara handed me a note, prompting Aiko to head towards me.

I scanned it quickly and folded it as she approached me.

"Let me see," she said, reaching for the note.

I held it above my head, out of her reach. Her arm returned to her side as she scowled.

"There's only five hours left until eleven. Do you know where Hiei is?" Kuwabara asked as I smelled the unfamiliarity of the letter. "It says we all have to be there. You, me, and Hiei have to be there."

It was human. A human kidnapped Yusuke... Natsume? No. Not her scent. No reason for her to kidnap Yusuke.

"No, I don't know where he is," I replied. "But his contract should still limit him to the tri-city area."

"Let. Me. See," she hissed.

"I guess we should start looking for him." I ignored her and turned to Botan.

"If only he was here, he could use his Jagan to find himself!" Botan groaned.

I found myself laughing hopelessly, shallowly, and Aiko remained quiet—ignorant of the joke and determined to read the letter.

"This sucks! We have no way to find him!" Kuwabara groaned.

"Oh!" Botan clapped excitedly. "The seven detective items! The aura detector was upgraded so we won't have a problem tracking any youkai."

"But how will we know it's Hiei's aura?" I asked.

She grimaced and then perked up again. "No problem! We just need something like a nail or lock of hair and the watch will trace him!"

"Yes, I'll just pull out the lock of Hiei's hair I carry around for good luck," I replied, to which Botan grimaced.

"I don't see you coming up with any ideas," Aiko remarked to me as Botan became frantic.

"We could use some Reikai binoculars to look for—"

"That could take centuries!" Kuwabara snapped.

Botan groaned and held her cheek.

"Do we have anything else?" Kuwabara tried.

"Well… to tell the truth…"

"We don't necessarily need to find Hiei, but call him to us," I tried.

Botan perked up, eyes shining bright. "Itako's whistle!"

"Good," I nodded, figuring it was our last chance anyway. "I'll meet up with you all soon."

Aiko turned around and headed for the door.

"Aiko?" I called.

"I'm going to cancel everything with Isayashi and tell him we're not going tonight."

We.

"Stay here for a minute, Aiko," I spoke slowly and then turned to Kuwabara with a whisper. "I'll meet you both at the nearby park in about an hour. I need to adjust my human life."

Kuwabara nodded before budging on the broken door that he had yet to move from, and a crippled cry surfaced from underneath. Remembering Sorata, Botan and Kuwabara jumped off the door and quickly sneaked out the classroom.

Aiko lifted the door with all her might and set it against the wall as I briefly tended to Sorata. He was out, and would be for a few more minutes.

"Should we be worried?" she asked dryly, standing over him. "About him, I mean."

I shook my head, reaching behind my head, digging carefully in my hair to pull out a small, dime-sized pouch.

"What's that?" she asked as I broke the plastic pouch open and poured the soft powder over his nose.

With his unconscious inhale, I leaned in and whispered away the last of his memories, replacing the conversation he may have heard with absolute nothing. He passed out after the door crashed.

"This powder is one of the very few things I carry with me throughout the day. For situations like this."

She shifted her weight on her other leg as I stood up.

She spoke before I could open my mouth. "You're not stopping me from going on this."

"No, I'm afraid I am. You're not going."

"I'm not a dog," she laughed bitterly before eyeing Sorata. "You can't tell me what to do."

"Alright," I replied. "What use will you be?"

She recoiled, face apparent with shock. "The same use Botan's going to be!"

She almost had a point.

"Botan has more reiki than you and will be able to use the items to find Hiei."

Almost.

"And then?" She crossed her arms over her chest, ruffling the lab coat.

"If something happens, she can relay it to Koenma fastest."

"...And then?"

I sighed. "Aiko, I understand you want Yusuke to be okay, but we don't know who we're dealing with. They are humans who've captured the most recent Dark Tournament champion."

"Even more of a reason to be worried!" she pressed. "What if it's Natsume? That walking mass of evil is my enemy too. I have a right to be there."

I paused, thinking over the possibility again. The letter didn't smell like her but I knew she would be crafty. But this scheme didn't feel like something she was a part of.

"I don't think she'd go out of her way to bring Yusuke into this."

"It could be to lure you," she said. "We're all, technically, harboring you. All of us are legal except you."

"If it was Natsume, wouldn't she want you to come too? Your name wasn't included in the letter."

She let her eyes drop to the ground and thought… She nodded, and though I could tell she was relieved, that didn't stop her.

"Okay but you guys can't do this to me again! You can't leave me in the dark when something goes terribly, terribly wrong! It makes everything worse, especially now that a fucking bug's come through!"

"It may not even be related." The bug could be an important factor, but I couldn't risk entertaining her. "I can't risk putting you in danger—this is the same reason we didn't tell you about the tournament."

"I'm allowed to put myself in danger if I chose!"

"I don't want that on my hands and neither would Yusuke."

"He's my friend—friends put themselves on the line for each other! Friends do what they can for each other."

I sighed, trying to find out how I could work this angle. "He's our friend—let me take the dangerous route and—"

She stomped her foot.

"He was my friend—" She stopped herself instantly from finishing that sentence with the word "first" as it would only further her childish antics. She shook her head, eyes squeezed shut. "You can't do this. Don't fucking turn this into another cross-country journey for me."

"There are too many unknowns, you'd be a liability. Humans who could kidnap Yusuke, an abandoned mansion—"

"What mansion?!" she gasped. "Is the name odd? Like something from a theme park?"

I paused, shocked at her sudden outburst.

"Yes... Tell me what you know about it," I said hesitantly, hoping this wouldn't entertain her belief that she could come along.

"My coworker has house plans to all those strange mansions across Western Japan. They all have weird names."

My brow rose in interest. "Which one do you have?"

"Kagami Mansion!"

I sighed. "Not the one."

"Well, which is it?" she pressed. "He has others!"

I would rather her not be there and risk wandering a mansion alone than have her there and be a liability.

"Aiko, I can't let you go."

"Please…" she paused, and then pulled out her threat. "I'll follow you."

"I'll make sure you won't."

"How?" She squinted in disbelief.

"I wouldn't be happy with doing it, but—"

Her eyes then widened. "You wouldn't..."

"If it kept you out of this, yes."

With pursed lips, she searched my face for what seemed to be minutes, and she sighed as Isayashi's voice could be heard.

"What the hell happened?! Sorata? Are you okay? Hey!"

"Promise me you'll call…" she muttered. I stared down at her, but before I could reply, she spoke again. "If you don't call tomorrow morning I'm assuming the worst and I'm getting everyone involved."

"Everyone?"

"Keiko, Shizuru, Yu's mom... and Shiori."

"You wouldn't tell Shiori," I asserted with a whisper.

"I'd tell her last… after I found out what really happened. She'd deserve to know."

She wouldn't tell Shiori. She never would unless I asked.

"Hellllooooo?!" Isayashi called to us as he stepped closer. "What the hell happened?!"

I nodded. "Fine."

"Go…" she grumbled, leaving her eyes on the ground. "I'll handle everything here."

Aiko.

I convinced Isayashi that it was a couple of gang members at the wrong school. They "left immediately" when I threatened to scream for any staff left on campus. He bought it. It wasn't hard to convince the janitors about the door since the other club members weren't around.

Sorata survived with a headache and sore back. In order to make sure the memory erasure worked, I invited him to karaoke with Saito's group. Upset at his unrelenting, unwarranted persistence when bothering Kurama, I held a tight grip around his neck and an even tighter smile as I convinced him I wouldn't take "no" for an answer. He ended up saying "yes" quite enthusiastically.

So far, he hadn't said a thing about what he remembered after being crushed.

Clock now nearing one in the morning, I almost regretted snatching sparkling sake from my work as they sang American hits to help us pass English class and "improve our phonetics." I needed something heavier to deal with tonight. To deal with this entire week.

"I don't know why you hung out with Natsume and her friends last year!" Isayashi laughed at my latest comment. "You're pretty cool."

I shrugged and forced a smile, sipping slowly on the fruity-sweet, bubbly sake.

I spent my first year with Natsume's crew and now that they attended Tohoku University, I was left with the rest of Meiou's population as potential friends. It was only the first week of school but socially, it was nice. I was branching out and spending time with the people I… used to gossip about…

Yet they didn't seem to mind. I was sure they never heard their names in my mouth but I was also sure they knew their names were probably once there. And they were still… nice.

Maybe I was building them up more than they truly were because after spending time with Natsume and enduring constant low blows, it was nice to spend time with people who weren't out to find a way to put me down.

Isobe continued her solo of Betaville's "Forever Young," and we were all waiting for it to end as everyone drank recklessly. Exactly why I picked up "sparkling."

"Isobe," I heckled, cupping my hands around my mouth. "This makes me want to stick a needle in my arm and overdose in a bathroom! Pick a different song. Re-do! Re-do!"

Isayashi me laughed and chanted along as Isobe flipped me off with a satisfied smirk, hitting the singer's notes perfectly.

"I thought Minamino may actually show up." Saito leaned towards me to speak over Isobe. "He never spends time with anyone off campus, so I thought you'd be the one to drag him here."

"Oh, yeah, he—uh," I paused, straightening out a half-truth and resurfacing an unwanted, sharp pang of worry in the back of my mind. "A friend of his got in an accident."

"That's horrible!" Saito gasped.

"He should live!" I reassured her—or really, myself. "Don't worry. They'll both be fine."

"Maybe you can convince him to come with us another day then." She smiled to me, taking a short strand of hair and tucking it behind her ear. "I mean, you guys are like... friends, you know?"

"Well, I never was able to convince him—"

"But you two come to school together and leave together often. You two actually... hang out," she said. "I'm sure you can convince him."

"No, you don't understand. Even if I did, he would have found a way out—"

"Okay, enough sugar-coating, I guess." She rolled her eyes and leaned in closer, whispering to me. "Are you two exclusive?"

"Oh," I replied with haste and let out a cackle. "Oh, god. Uh... I don't... know? No?"

Neither of us really expanded on what happened at the bus stop. I didn't think either of us wanted to. Our routine was better than any conversation we could have had about it. I didn't want to push my luck either. Besides, dare I say we were content? I was… very happy to say the least.

He seemed to be, too. I figured if he actually wanted anything more, he'd say something.

She paused and a small frown graced her lips before she pouted. "How can you not know?"

"I'm not good at karaoke, you guys," Sorata chuckled weakly, adjusting his glasses.

"None of us are, Sorata!" Isayashi said, pushing him on the stage.

"But that's what makes it fun!" Saito said, becoming side-tracked and skipping up to the small stage with him. "Here, I'll sing with you!"

"You too, Aiko!" Isayashi called, and then Saito called to me from the stage.

"Come on! A trio!"

I forced a laugh, upset I was finally being pulled up there. I managed to skip out on singing until now. "Oh, no thanks. I'm not drunk enough yet—"

"Let her pick the song!" Saito laughed and made her way back towards me.

"No, really, I'd rather not—"

I wasn't even socially loose, and I'd never make it to lubricated on sparkling sake.

"Then take a shot and get up there, come on!" Isayashi encouraged.

They began chanting "shots" repeatedly... like it was something that could sway me. I gave in, letting Saito pour me a tall glass, and downed the drink quickly.

Slamming the glass on the table in front of me, I stood from the group couch and made my way to the stage. I wasn't going to make any friends if I couldn't look like a dumbass around them. I wasn't going to get my mind off Kurama and Yu if I couldn't distract myself.

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" I laughed as Sorata handed me a microphone.

"Probably," Saito laughed, skimming through songs.

"Hey, hey." I pointed to the screen as she scrolled by artist names. "Look. Komu Komu Club's latest album."

"Nope." Saito smiled teasingly and scrolled past it.

"They even have Chan on here!" I gasped as she continued scrolling.

"Nope."

"The Meatles' entire collection too."

"You want to do the Meatles?" Sorata asked.

"No, my dad would fucking skin me if he found out I went out to karaoke and sang Meatles songs the entire time."

He instantly began skimming again.

"Does your dad hate them because of their bigger than Jesus comment, too?" Saito asked. "A lot of people stopped liking them after that."

"Oh, no," I laughed, waving off the comment. "He believes they're bigger than Jesus. Rumor has it, before I was born my room used to be a Meatles shrine dedicated to the lead singer."

Their laughter made me feel better, like I was beginning to belong among them... as if they actually liked me.

"E-he or Rick Ostley!" Sorata read the two he wanted to pick from. "Oh, look. When In Venice."

"Any of those are fine," I said with a shrug, and Saito nodded.

Saito pressed the button on the remote, letting the beginning of E-he's song blare through the speakers. On the large screen on the wall, Take On Me's music video began playing, lyrics ready to appear at the bottom.

I was so not drunk enough for this foolishness… especially not around new people who I was trying to impress.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled the mic up to my mouth—and was thoroughly relieved to watch the door burst open and someone trip inside. The drum opening of E-He's one hit wonder played as we all stared at the half-unconscious, young adult male that lay sprawled across the floor, sake bottle rolling away from him.

"Should we… should we call someone?" Saito asked, inching towards him.

"Hide the alcohol first," I replied. "Put it under your jacket, Sorata."

He hopped off the stage and ran to put on his flannel jacket and tuck the bottle underneath. I waited patiently as the kids scrambled about to clean up their cups and down the last of their beverage before shoving pieces of gum in their mouths.

I stepped off the stage and made my way to the young man, eyeing him to see if he was alright. He was breathing so...

"We're good!" Isobe called to me as someone stepped in through the open doorway.

"Damn," a familiar voice grumbled.

My eyes shot up from the lying figure to my coworker, Hirogawa.

He shook a bottle of orange juice to unsettle it. "Sorry about that, you guys. I bet he thought this was our room."

"Hirogawa?" I gaped, and my mind instantly clicked. "Hirogawa!"

His eyes landed on me as I strode to him. "Hey, Hojo—" I latched onto his arm as I walked past him, dragging him with me outside the room. "What do you want?"

"I need to see the house plans," I said, turning to him as we stopped in the hallway.

Hours had passed since Kurama left with Kuwabara and Botan, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to follow in their footsteps. The last lead I had on them was the mansion. If I wanted to find anything out, I had to head there first.

He ruffled his hair as he thought and then began twisting off the cap of his juice. "Uh—for which one?"

"For… I… don't know…" I paused, disheartened. "Are there any other mansions in the tri-city area?"

"One other, I think."

"Do you have that one?"

"Probably."

"Well, let's find out."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm busy."

I stared at him, wondering why he couldn't just drop everything to get me the plans. I dropped plenty of weekends to scout out that maze. "…With what?"

He wagged the bottle in front of my face gently. "Pre-gaming."

"You can take ten minutes out of your life to pull out the house plans and give them to me."

"We're already late to the party and now I have to haul his dead ass out to the car. I'm busy."

"We're sixteen and doing better than him. Your pre-game is shit."

He didn't need to know the alcohol content was like six percent…

He took a swig from his orange juice. "I came out tonight to have a fun time and I am honestly feeling so attacked right now."

"Just get me the plans and I'll leave you alone!"

"God. Fine," he said with an eye roll. "They're in my trunk still. I never did get around to taking them out."

"Good, you drove here?"

He wagged the orange juice in front of my face again before walking down the hall to the entrance. "I'm the sober one tonight as you can tell."

I stared at him, repressing rage. All that hassle when he just had to walk out to the car…

I followed him, walking past the clerk in the main lobby. We showed our stamps before pushing past the glass doors to enter the chilly April night air.

"I parked over here," he said, digging his keys out of his varsity jacket's pocket and pressing the unlock button.

A Honda Accord's lights flashed briefly and I made a beeline to the vehicle. He pressed another button and the trunk popped open slightly. I heaved the trunk above my head and began digging through his belongings, pushing aside an emergency vehicle kit, boxes of beer, old clothes, and finally, a cardboard box.

I ripped the flaps of the cardboard open to find bundles of blue and yellow papers.

"Which one is it?" I asked.

"I don't know which one you're looking for," he replied, leaning against his car's tail light as I dug.

"Tri-city area," I said, reaching in for one. "Not Kagami Mansion."

"Move," he said, and I quickly stepped out of his way to avoid him patting me on the back or something. "Let's see… tri-city area, huh…"

I waited as he pulled out each print one by one until he took a more intense look at a yellow paper.

He tapped the paper with the back of his fingers. "The House of Four Dimensions."

"This is the one?"

He handed me the papers. "Only other one in tri-city area other than Kagami Mansion."

Kuwabara said they all had to be there, including shrimp-dick, who was on probation to the tri-city area. The mansion had a name like something from a theme park. What better abandoned mansion to use when capturing your enemy than one by an eccentric architect? They had to be there.

I inhaled sharply and took it from his hands, wondering how I was going to be able to read this new house's plans. It took me a while to get the hang of Kagami's…

"Thanks," I said as I began folding the large papers to fit in my purse. "I'll give it back to you at work or something."

"What do you need it for?" he asked as I began walking back inside.

"Some people are there and they're in trouble. I need to get over there."

"It's one in the morning. The trains and bus lines are done for the night."

I shrugged as he came up next to me. "I'll walk, I guess."

"You'd get there by dawn from here," he said. "It's in the next city over."

He paused, waiting for me to walk, but when I didn't budge he walked inside before me. I shrugged again and began heading back to my room to bid everyone goodnight.

"Okay… how about I take you?" he offered, glancing over his shoulder.

"You don't need to. Besides, you're busy," I replied, stepping foot into the hallway. "I usually walk everywhere anyway."

"Okay, but at night? To another town?"

"Not usually on my agenda but whatever. I've dealt with worse."

"I'll take you," he offered again. "He went to pay for the drinks before bursting in your room anyway. We're headed out."

"To the next city over?" I glanced up to him.

"Well, no. But I'm driving anyway," he said.

Hirogawa, Akito, was definitely a creep. I normally would not take an offer to be in closed vicinity alone with him under any circumstances, but he had a drunk friend to take care of and I had idiots to save.

I sighed. "Do you want gas money?"

"No, I'm going to take some out of his wallet," he replied with a shrug, nodding to his collapsed friend as we rounded the corner into my private karaoke room.

"I thought you guys went to go get someone!" Sorata said when he noticed my return.

"No, we're taking him out ourselves." Hirogawa bent over and reached for his chubby friend, who groaned as he was lifted up on two unstable feet.

"I'm out of here, guys!" I said, making my way to where I was seated.

"Aw, you didn't get to sing, though!" Saito pouted.

"Next time!" I promised, pulling the strap of my cross-body purse over my head. "I'll even make sure Shuichi comes."

"Next time, Hojo!" Isayashi threw the peace sign up as I waved to them all, as Hirogawa pulled his drunk friend over his shoulder.

"I'm going to have you and Isobe learn how to do Pat Beenastar's dance in 'Love is a Battlefield'!" Saito said with a large smile before shimmying her torso. "Next time, you promise!?"

"For sure, you guys. Bye!" I said, to which they all responded cheerfully, easing the embarrassment in the back of my mind.

Minutes later, after collecting his belongings from their private room, Hirogawa shoved his friend in the backseat of his car. As he fell over and took up the entire back seat, I made myself comfortable in the passenger's.

I didn't buckle my seat belt. The possibility of Hirogawa being a complete sleaze was still heavy in the back of my mind and I was willing to throw myself out of the car in a worst case scenario.

"So why are you so hellbent on going there?" he asked as he started his car.

"Idiots are there," I replied.

"Boyfriend?"

"Uh…"

"Boy you like."

I sighed, cheeks tingling from embarrassment. He never met Kurama so I wasn't too worried. "Yeah, and then a few other idiots."

"You're surrounded by trouble, you know that?" he noted simply, to which I scoffed.

"And you're not?"

"Takes one to know one."

"Take me back to the third grade," I called out the cracked window. "I can hear role call now."

"Speaking of being in third grade—don't your parents care where you are?"

"My mom thinks I'm out at karaoke right now." He hummed in response.

"When's your next shift?" he asked suddenly.

"Uh… I think Sunday. Why?"

"If you don't show up, I'll know what to tell the police."

"Yeah, hey, pigs. So like, I took this drunk girl to an abandoned mansion in another city at one in the morning and left her there alone."

Sparkling sake couldn't get me drunk after my time with Natsume, but that's what they'd automatically assume so everything could suddenly be my fault. Find enough blame to pin on the victim so they don't have to put much work into the case.

He rolled his eyes, flicking on his turn signal. "Don't underestimate me lying to the police."

I shrugged. "Whatever makes you feel better."

Our drive continued with simpler small talk on quiet roads—how many siblings do you have? What other places have you worked at? Did you see the new movie that came out? Have you heard Kazumasa Eda's new single? What about Chago and Iska's or Komu Komu Club's? My dog ate its own shit today. ...That's pretty cool.

Soon, we pulled up to the corner of the street, and I opened the door quickly, eager to find the boys and see if they were alright.

"Wait! Here," he called after me as I stepped out.

I leaned on the car door as I looked inside again, glancing at the clock to find it was two in the morning. He scribbled something on a piece of notepad paper and quickly handed it to me.

"I'm going to feel like shit if something happens to you, like I brought you here and all. Just call when everything's all right."

I took it and found it was a number.

"Alright." I nodded and shoved the paper in my pocket. "I'll call later. Don't worry."

"If I don't pick up it's because I'm like him," he said, nodding behind him to his friend. "Just leave a message."

"Thanks," I said with a smile before closing the door.

He made a U-turn and drove off, and I quickly walked around the street looking for the mansion. I thought it would be hard to find, with how Kagami looked normal from the outside, but I quickly came upon a tall, wide, run-down building.

This mansion was the difference, an example of how eclectic the buildings were. Kagami mansion, despite being run down with chipping paint, a dead yard, and broken windows, looked normal on the outside. It wasn't until one stepped inside that it was noticeably strange.

This house had just one word to describe it: grotesque.

Its windows and doors were planted in various positions, with only the main entrance safely secured as any other home would have it. The architecture was off, protruding in various areas and slanting dangerously in others, but it stood firm and strong. Some parts of the roof were even turned upside down, or laid at a ninety-degree angle of what it should have been.

This truly was one of the more extravagant mansions in the blue prints.

The home's lawn was over grown with weeds as it hadn't been taken care of in months—maybe even years. I stepped up to the porch and was careful as I heard the wood beneath me creak weakly. Making my way to the cracked open door, I paused to read the writing on the paper taped to the wood.

"Whoever enters this house must never say the word…" I trailed off and looked down at my feet. Was I considered inside when I was on the porch? I was under the roof... I whispered under my breath, barely speaking it. "Hot."

A gust of wind blew past me as I waited for something to happen, yet nothing did. I looked around the empty yard, slightly unnerved. The air was still chilly enough for me to get goose bumps while wearing a cardigan… the fear was creeping up on me and I wasn't even inside.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I stepped inside the mansion that may as well have harbored a heavy cloud. The heat in the foyer was bearable, but the air was sticky. I looked around the dramatized room, noting the red lighting and abundance of bookcases.

But what held my attention was the myriad of healthy plants.

This was definitely Kurama's work… I was at the right place. Maybe they were fine.

I crossed the room gingerly, walking around plants in hopes of not stumbling upon anything carnivorous.

I didn't really know all of what Kurama was capable of, but I figured if he could create and spread these plants that some of them would have a mind of their own if induced with ki. The thought of that reality seemed surreal as I remembered he wasn't human.

It was strange. He looked human, albeit exotic in our nation, that I often forgot he wasn't until reminded, and even now it slipped past me again... It slipped past me even when I used to sit on Natsume's bed and eavesdrop on her conversations with her father.

I knew he wasn't human, yet I never thought about it.

I watched across the dimly lit room as a plant moved on its own... there was no air flow in here. Goosebumps pricked upon my arms despite the heat. I looked around the room again and found a clear hallway, no plants in sight.

Taking what I thought were careful steps up the small set of stairs that would put me out of the foyer, I soon found my boot tug on something—a root of sort?

Gravity took hold and I fell forward, cursing loudly. I smacked face first into the hallway's wood floor, lighting a painful fire in my nose as I spat obscenities loudly. My denim jeans let me practically slide across the floor as I crawled far enough in the hallway to feel safe.

With a quiet whine, I sat on my bottom and dug in my purse to pull out the rolled up print. Scanning the house's layout, I pondered on where to go as I massaged my throbbing nose.

Where would they be if they were still here? If I were a villain and was using this house as my hideout… what room would be best to keep someone captive?

It was hard to say for this house, seeing as how all the rooms were totally unnecessary, just like at Kagami…

That was it! Everything in this house was totally unnecessary! Which room would be necessary for them?

My eyes scanned over the papers once more, taking in each room as the pain in my nose began to dull. The biggest room! The biggest room that could hold people captive, that could house a group of people trained to capture the Dark Tournament's most recent champions and give them space to fight their prey.

I stood up and brushed dust off my bottom.

Even if they weren't here anymore, I could pick up clues along the way to find what's happened so far.

Now to get up there.

A/N:

* Nori is edible seaweed used to decorate rice balls.

Jumping right in! No time to waste; no better place to start.

Also I love punning-up band/artist names, even if it's just changing one letter. Inspired by Togashi's "Megallica" to keep the running gag going, even if in my own poor sense of humor. It gives me life. And if anyone noticed, I hate that line too, but I'd be damned if I was going to let it slip through that scene. LOL.

On another note, thanks to Gimei, OhhTaylorJade, hollyandthediamonds, and two guests for reviewing the first chapter, and everyone who's decided to tag along through follows and faves. Muah.