Alice Alive

By, KKYOKO

Chapter Seventeen: Hardest of Hearts

A couple of hours later, I found myself biting my lip in horror as I watched the Rinku kid fly Kuwabara like a kite.

"Yusuke, get up you idiot!" Keiko yelled beside me, doe eyes bright with worry. She looked at me. "He should be able to do something, right?"

"I…I don't really know," I murmured, not taking my eyes off of Kuwabara as he drifted higher and higher. I heard Shizuru sigh on the other side of me, and I wondered what she was thinking, but I was too afraid to look away.

"Kuwabara!" Atsuko shouted, putting her fist in the air, practically climbing on the back of Koenma's seat. "Have some guts!"

All of the sudden, Kuwabara dropped out of the air, and I felt my heart leap into my throat.

"He's falling!" Koto exclaimed in her microphone. "Is this the final blow?"

But Kuwabara's brilliant sunshine sword shot out of his hands, jamming into the arena's floor so hard that concrete crumbled around it. The sword bent backward with his weight and he shot forward at Rinku like a bullet. I couldn't see Rinku's expression because he faced away from me, but yo-yos flew out of his hands, and headed straight for Kuwabara. Kuwabara's sword zigzagged around the strings though, and stabbed a surprised Rinku, while the yo-yos nailed Kuwabara in the face.

They effectively knocked each other out of the ring, and Koto called the match a tie.

I glanced at Shizuru, who looked a combination of disappointed and relieved.

But then Rinku hauled himself back into the ring, holding his stomach where Kuwabara's sword stabbed him. Kuwabara started to get up to get back in the ring too, but Rinku's yo-yos (which were all wrapped around him) tripped him up as Koto hit a loud and final, "Ten!"

I let out a sigh. Rinku had won, but I was glad that Kuwabara was safe. There was still a chance to win this round.

"Oh, my," Botan murmured on the other side of Atsuko as the crowd cheered. "Kuwabara isn't happy."

I looked down and saw she was right. Kuwabara was red-faced and yelling at Rinku. Rinku seemed surprised and uncertain. He hopped out of the ring though, and Kuwabara calmed down after a moment. The next guy on the other team stepped into the ring, with a bit of a saunter. I couldn't see his features from so far away, but he gave off the feeling of a creep.

Kurama stepped forward and I frowned, feeling certain that he could take care of this guy easily, but I still felt nervous for him.

"He isn't normal," Shizuru said beside me. "Kurama, I mean."

"You think so?" Keiko asked.

Then of course, they both looked at me.

I coughed and turned to face the match, pretending ignorance. I didn't really feel like explaining what Kurama was. I figured just letting them think that he was some sort of magical guy would be fine, since it wasn't my business to explain any sort of demonic origins he may or may not have.

Kurama's opponent, Roto, grew a scythe-thing out of his arm (which was entirely disturbing) and started swinging it at Kurama. He dodged all of Roto's swipes easily, and I began to think that Roto wasn't exactly the strongest on his team. Kurama suddenly appeared behind him, arm raised like he was about to knock him out with the side of his hand, but then he froze - spooked by something. Kurama suddenly jumped away from Roto, a cold expression on his face.

My heart missed a beat. "What do you think is going on?" I asked. "He had a clear shot."

No one was able to answer me, of course. I tried to remember something, anything about this fight from the series, but I kept drawing blanks. My eyes fell on Hiei's dark figure by the ring, and I wondered if he knew what was going on.

I'm not a telepath by any means. I'm good at reading people, and I can practically tell you what'll come out of someone's mouth at any given time because people are just that predictable, but I am not that kind of psychic. But I figured that if Sitka was right about Hiei, he might be paying attention to my mind. Not that I particularly wanted Sitka to be right, but that was a whole other can of worms.

Hiei, I tried, focusing on his back.

I heard his sharp voice almost immediately. He had been paying attention after all.

"I'm busy," he said. "Kurama's opponent has someone keeping tabs on his mother in the human world."

I swallowed. Is she in danger?

I couldn't see his expression, but I got the feeling of annoyance from him. "Do you really underestimate our capabilities that much? His accomplice is so weak the fool could beat him with one wild swing of his fist." Hiei sensed my sheepishness, and I felt his irritation abate. "The dog is guarding her."

With that, I sensed him close himself off to me, and I was alone in my head again.

I turned my gaze from Hiei to Kurama, just in time to see Roto slam his fist into Kurama's face. I winced as his head turned with the force of the blow, and watched Roto stop and stand back, laughing with triumph. He pointed at Kurama, yelling something, but that was when I noticed Roto was holding something in his other hand. I frowned, wondering what it was. It seemed like it was some sort of…device. It almost reminded me of a remote control, but it was so foreign, I couldn't be sure that was what it was.

Kurama stood still with his hands clasped behind his back. He radiated a cold fury, and I felt the bracelet grow warm in response to his energy. I frowned down at it and tried to push it off my hand, even though I knew it was pointless. Stupid thing.

Roto stepped forward, leaning into Kurama's face, smirking while he said something. He laughed and kicked Kurama in the chest, and I felt myself grow furious. My blood pressure only went up higher as Roto hit him in the face and manifested his scythe again, drawing the tip across Kurama's cheek. I could feel my face flush with rage, and my hands clenched into fists as I restrained myself from interfering with the match. Roto would be so dead, if I could just get him.

A cool hand laid on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Shizuru's calm face. "Relax. I have a feeling he's about to stop being so easy-going."

Shizuru was right, of course. Roto had been standing on one leg, holding up his left foot for some odd reason, and then he suddenly stopped as Kurama said something that seemed to surprise him. Kurama brushed himself off, and relaxed his stance, giving Roto an expectant look. Roto looked gleeful, holding out his hand with the device in it, and suddenly froze in a weird arms-wide-open position. His mouth worked open and closed as Kurama crossed the space between them and snatched the device out of his hand.

Kurama said something and Roto seemed to beg for a moment. Kurama turned away, dismissive, still giving off that icy air, and then plant-life - leaves, tendrils, and flowers alike - exploded from Roto's skin. The demon fell to the ground, twitching as the plants sucked up his blood for sustenance, while growing even taller.

I blinked. "Well, then."

Shizuru's eyebrows shot up and Keiko gasped, covering her mouth.

Kurama stepped off the platform, turning to Hiei, murmuring something to him as he glanced up in the stands at me. He raised his eyebrows at my uncertain expression and I shrugged at him. I didn't like killing, but I had thought about crippling Roto myself, so I really couldn't hold it against Kurama. I was just glad that Kurama made it out okay - even if he was a little banged up.

The next guy stepped on the platform and gave Hiei an expectant look. Hiei smirked and tossed his scarf aside.

Shizuru frowned beside me. "He's even worse than Kurama."

Botan laughed nervously for some reason. "Oh, Shizuru!" After a moment I remembered that Botan was actually a bit afraid of Hiei ever since the Yukina case. Something about him worried about her telling the secret or something. I couldn't quite remember the details.

I pulled at the bracelet on my wrist as Koto shouted, "Let's go!"

As soon as Koto said that, Hiei's opponent burst into flames. Or rather, the air around him burst into flames. Koto backed away, protecting her face, while Hiei stood still, unaffected by his opponent's display of power.

The guy crouched into some sort of stance, hands enveloped in orange fire, and smirked at Hiei. He said something, probably to goad him, but it didn't work. Hiei wasn't the type to be goaded unless it was Kurama, who was a very good goader. All of the sudden, the guy leapt forward and his hand stabbed into Hiei's torso, spreading the fire and sending Hiei up and back into the air. More fire flew out of the guy's hand, following Hiei's trajectory. The flames surrounded Hiei's limp form as he crashed into the platform.

I bit my lip, worried.

The opponent looked amused, but it didn't last long because Hiei suddenly appeared behind him, body still encased in fire. Even from high up in the stands, I could see his purple Jagan glowing evilly. Shizuru gave a shudder beside me at Hiei's growing demonic aura. Hiei held up his fist and the air around it darkened and swirled before bursting into black flames. A small, smoky dragon circled his body as he gave his opponent a malicious look.

Koto leapt off the platform. "It's too dangerous! Excuse me, but I have to get myself to safety."

Hiei's hand shot out, and the black flames grew bigger and another, larger, dragon flew out of the flames toward Hiei's opponent. The dragon's aura felt ten times worse than the aura bound to my bracelet. I squeezed my eyes shut and huddled into myself, repulsed by the pure demonic energy of the dragon. I could tell that it wasn't just some energy from the Makai. The dragon that Hiei wielded was an entity unto itself, and somehow Hiei had made a contract with it.

Now, because I was trying to get to my happy place and ignore the dragon's energy, I missed the end of the attack.

"Uhh…" I heard Koto say. I looked up and saw the remains of Hiei's opponent scorched onto the opposite wall of the stands. "I think it's useless to do a countdown," she finished. "The winner…is Hiei!"

The crowd responded with boos and heckling.

Hiei ignored them and shoved his hands in his pockets. I noticed that at some point during his fight his tunic had burned up and disappeared, leaving his torso bared. His olive skin was reddened in some places, particularly his right arm, but otherwise his skin was clear. And then I realized that I had been staring at him for a beat too long when Shizuru shifted beside me. I snapped my gaze away from Hiei's whipcord muscled frame and observed a passing cloud instead. Admittedly, it was hard not to ogle Hiei. He was attractive.

The crowd suddenly made a noise of surprise and a familiar-looking tall guy appeared on the platform beside Koto. I recognized his mohawk and swagger - it was Chuu. I frowned, trying to remember what happened next, but then realized I didn't have to. Yusuke woke up and got to his feet, eyeing Chuu with a critical expression.

"That idiot has finally woken up," Keiko muttered.

Yusuke stepped into the arena, hands on his hips as he sized Chuu up. The audience started up a resounding chant of, "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!" I turned to Keiko and saw she looked very worried. She was biting her lip and her big eyes wouldn't move from Yusuke.

"Do you…think he'll be all right?" she asked us.

Botan was quick to reassure her. "Of course he will be, Keiko! I've been minding his training you know!" She gave Keiko a very bright grin that was distractingly cat-like.

Shizuru and I nodded in agreement. "He's really strong, Keiko," I said about Yusuke, but still feeling a bit nervous myself. If I remembered correctly, Chuu was one of the good guys. Or would be anyway.

A hand suddenly went to my wrist, and I looked up to see Shizuru frowning at me. "You're going to break that thing. Your wrist is red from pulling at it."

I frowned and realized she was talking about the bracelet. She was right too - my wrist was sore and inflamed. I hadn't even realized that I had been twisting it around in my other hand. I think I was even subconsciously trying to get the stupid thing off my arm. I should have never let Kurama put it on my wrist - sign of protection or not, the thing was evil. I imagined that the energy it contained was that of Youko Kurama, and not the current watered-down version of himself. I really hoped I never ran into Kurama's full demon form, because I was guessing that his energy would be like something out of a horror movie.

"Why are you wearing it?" Shizuru asked, jolting me from my thoughts. She glanced down at Kurama. "It's his, right? I can sense his energy in it."

I wrinkled my nose and told her how he had coerced me into putting it on.

She lit a cigarette thoughtfully. "It sounds like he's toying with you, doesn't it? I don't think he's doing it intentionally though. He really does seem to care about you, but just not like you had hoped," she said, exhaling.

"I'm just tired of it, Shizuru," I told her. "I don't even want to talk about it."

"Mm." She respected my wishes and changed the subject. "So who's this Sakurai Naoto guy?" she asked with a slightly wicked expression.

"How do you know about him?"

She motioned down at the arena. "My baby brother, of course."

"Oh, right," I said, looking down. I saw Yusuke and Chuu swinging at each other, and I realized we'd missed the beginning of the fight. Shizuru seemed more interested in Naoto though, so I ignored them for the moment. "Sakurai Naoto is someone I met on the ferry on the way over. He's the son of one of the organizers, so he invited me to this ball they were having. His friend, Kyoko, dressed me up. He goes to Sato and he's in the acting division."

Shizuru raised her eyebrows. "So is he cute or what?"

I shrugged. "I think he's interested in me, but I don't feel the same way about him. He's a nice boy though."

She gave me a knowing smile. "And you don't want a boy."

"Exactly." That would be weird.

She took a pull from her cigarette. "So what do you look for in a guy?" she asked.

That was a difficult question for me. I've dated different types of guys, but I've never been able to figure out what drew me to them. My first boyfriend was someone that was difficult to love. He was the type of guy that you had to walk on eggshells around, which I turned out to be surprisingly good at, but it came to a point where I didn't want to do it anymore. He was my first everything, so I never really realized how selfish he was - especially in bed.

My second boyfriend changed that for me. He was attentive and loving and smiley, but we were completely different people. His very religious parents never liked me either, and that put a big strain on our relationship. We lasted about five months.

My third boyfriend was a cheating son of a bitch that slept with his ex-girlfriend. I slashed all four of his tires one night in the parking lot of a bar in Austin, and found out later that he was mugged while waiting for AAA. I'm still glad I did it too. That asshole had it coming to him in spades.

My fourth boyfriend was a broke college student that took me out to picnics in the park. He was incredibly sweet and wonderful, but our relationship went stale after a year. I think we just got tired of one another. Ours was a mutual parting of ways.

I shrugged at Shizuru. "I'm not really sure. I guess I don't have any particulars in mind. What about you?"

She snuffed out her cigarette. "Rich," she said plainly. "And with a good heart."

I tried not to smile, unsure if she was being serious or not. Shizuru was hard to read sometimes.

A bright light and an explosion of rubble snapped our attention back to the fight. After a second, I figured out that Yusuke had shot his spirit gun at the stadium's wall across from us. He stood in front of Chuu, arm out into the air, still pointing at the part of wall he'd just destroyed.

"Urameshi is incredibly naïve! He's just revealed his secret weapon! Never before seen in the Tournament!" Koto cried into her microphone.

Chuu's great mouth opened wide and his body shook with laughter before he stumbled a bit. I had forgotten that he was a drunk. He took a drink of something out of a tiny flask that was mostly hidden in his huge hand, and then gave a belch so loud it could be heard up in the stands. Koto looked mildly horrified.

Chuu's aura seemed to grow stronger and stranger, and suddenly there was a ball of crackling energy in his hands.

Suddenly they darted down the platform together, and Chuu hurled his ball of energy at Yusuke while Yusuke shot his spirit gun at Chuu. Their energies collided and exploded. They ran after the explosion, met in the middle, and started beating each other in the faces. Yusuke was knocked back and Chuu took advantage, growing another huge sphere of energy between his hands the size of a beach ball. He punched it toward the fallen Yusuke.

I could see Yusuke's brow furrow for a second while Keiko gasped beside me. Yusuke came through of course, and shot his spirit gun in two quick bursts. However, the double-strike didn't stop the ball, but instead the shots went right through it - heading toward Chuu. The attacks hit their targets at the exact same time, and Koto spent an amusing second trying to find Yusuke and Chuu in the aftermath. They were behind her, scratched and burned and beat up looking, where she couldn't see them right away.

It seemed like they were laughing at each other, and then Chuu held up two knives.

I remembered this scene. Basically what happens is Chuu drives the two knives into the platform, they put their heels against the blades, and punch each other senseless. I wasn't the least bit interested in watching. Bloody feet freak me out.

Instead, I started a daydream about going to Sato and becoming an actress. I liked acting - what little of it I'd done - so it would be something interesting to do at least. If it didn't work out, I could always teach English. It pays to be bilingual.

While my head was in the clouds, Koto called Yusuke's win. Keiko, Botan, and Atsuko cheered loudly, hurting my ears, while our fellow audience members booed and yelled angrily down at the arena. I sunk lower into my seat and exchanged looks with Shizuru. She shrugged and finally passed me a cigarette. Stingy bitch.

While I lit the cigarette with Shizuru's borrowed lighter, Yusuke finally lost his temper with the crowd and yelled for them to shut the hell up. Most of the audience was taken aback, surprised that the human sacrifice would protest their treatment of him. The whole team glared up into the stands - Kurama looking cold, Hiei's eyes flashing with warning, Kuwabara looking surly, and furious Yusuke glowering with all the ferocity of the sun. I felt singed.

I inhaled, and so did my alveoli.

"Come on you delicate things!" Yusuke roared. "We want to mess up your faces!"

No one took him up on his challenge.

Kurama's eyes narrow on the red marks on my wrist when we meet them after their fight. We're in a private locker room beneath the arena, and he takes me aside while Botan, Koenma, and Atsuko relive the match with Yusuke and Kuwabara. Shizuru stays a few feet away from me, and I feel a little protected. Not that Kurama scares me, but he has a tendency to overreact. Shizuru will act as a bit of a buffer to his …Kuramaness.

"It's bothering me," I tell him plainly, holding my arm out to him. "Just take the stupid thing off please. I'm not used to this energy either, and it isn't helping."

Kurama's hard look turns surprisingly gentle. "Yes, well, I suppose I underestimated the affect that Youko's energy would have on you. But you still haven't had it on for very long, and yet, it kept you safe in the crowd."

"I didn't realize I was in such great danger," I say drily.

Kurama exchanges a glance with Hiei, who is standing away from the commotion, right hand flexing into a fist and back. Kurama turns a weighted, green gaze back to me. "You're in plenty of it, Alice. Your ties to me put you in danger most significantly. You heard about Mother during my fight, didn't you?" His eyelids lower, casting a shadow over his expression. "It could be you next."

I scowl at the stupid bracelet, feeling Youko's dangerous aura twist around my arm, sending my senses into a nervous frenzy. "Then I don't understand the point of the bracelet. They already know my ties to you. Why does it matter if I'm wearing this or not? All it seems to be doing is painting a big red target on me."

Kurama sighs heavily. "You don't understand demons, Alice. It's all about a display of power. Any demon who wishes to challenge that may, but it's worthless if he or she doesn't take it up with me directly. In addition to that, the bracelet triples as a tracer, and a device that transmits your status to me." He taps his temple with his index finger. "If you are lost, I will find you. If you're in danger, I can save you."

My, my, Prince Charming, isn't he?

My sarcastic thoughts fight down the swoop of my stomach as I remind myself how much he's hurt me. Shizuru surreptitiously glances at me, checking to make sure that I haven't spun off into a world with rainbows and ponies and Kuramas in shining armor. I feel my expression harden, but I force kindness into my tone as I change the subject and suggest he cleans up the mess Roto made of his cheek. I would offer to do that for him, but I'm still hovering between throwing myself at him and attempting to kill him.

He goes to the sink and mirror in the corner of the room and I turn back to Shizuru who hands me another cigarette. I make a mental note to find a cigarette machine on the island and get my own pack. I'll need the nicotine - the deep-breathing calm that comes with smoking - to make it through the rest of our time here. I probably should have just stayed home with Sitka. But I like the action too, occasionally.

Botan is patching up Yusuke and Kuwabara, who are the most beaten up - except for Hiei's arm. He stands casually, hands shoved in his pocket, like he was waiting for a bus. He's in pain though. His bored expression doesn't show it, but he holds his arm stiffly enough for me to notice. I can't help him though. I don't know anything about healing, except what little I know about pharmaceuticals. That won't help Hiei, of course. Maybe Kurama could do something for him.

If you're wondering where Keiko is, she said she wasn't ready to see Yusuke yet, and she ran off before we could stop her. I have no idea why. Far be it from me to assume what's in a fourteen-year-old girl's heart, since it's been years that I've known what it's like to be fourteen. Well, sort of. I'm not too concerned about her though, since Botan doesn't seem that worried. Just in case you're thinking that I'm a horrible person or something.

Eventually, Shizuru and I decide to leave, intending to head back to the hotel to get something to eat. Motor oil would be delicious right now.

Botan and Atsuko decide to follow us and we leave the boys behind, supposing they'll catch up at some point. There's another fight going on, and they'll probably want to catch it and check out their next opponents. Botan and Atsuko are very chatty on the way back to the hotel - so much so that Shizuru and I don't have to say a word the entire way. I'm not in the mood to talk, and Shizuru seems distracted. I think there's a guy involved. I seem to remember something about her and Sakyo running into each other. I don't ask her about it though - she'll bring it up if she wants to talk about it.

We get to the hotel in fifteen minutes, at half-past twelve. Botan uses the lobby phone to call Keiko to meet us down in the dining room. I notice they keep the buffet table from breakfast when we get in there, although the food is all different. Looking around at the high arches of the dining room, the elaborate tableclothes, the crisp waiters, and the obviously wealthy guests, I am reminded of Fight Club. I wonder if the food is clean before losing my appetite completely. Tyler Durden could have peed in the tomato soup.

I worry about strange things when I'm upset.

Eventually, I'm picking at a black bean salad and a side of rice. The other girls have their assorted omnivorous lunches that I don't examine, and I wonder if the boys will come back to the hotel and eat at all. They don't during the time that we're there, luckily for Keiko, who keeps watching the entrance like a hawk. I don't see Kyoko or Naoto either, and turn my attention back to Atsuko who's telling us about her days in middle school as a Yankee. Or Yanki.

Atsuko is an interesting woman. She's fiery and passionate and thrives on fighting. I could easily see the Mazuko gene coming from her, but neither the anime or manga confirmed it to my knowledge. She talks about her childhood and her job as a hostess, letting us into the dark side of the night. Her face is bright and animated, and I notice that Yusuke has her nose.

We sit in the dining room until dinner, but the boys still don't come back. So we head up to the room that Keiko and Botan are sharing, stopping at a vending machine to pick up some beer, which is cheaper than room service, and begin our night of debauchery. Keiko doesn't drink, though, which is perfectly fine with me as fourteen-year-olds shouldn't be drinking. I begin to realize that Keiko is very lady-like. Or something. I think even her name means "obedient", but I don't ask because I'm becoming quite sloshed. The part of me that stands outside of myself when I'm drunk tells me that I'll probably make fun of her and hurt her feelings if I ask.

As a hostess, Atsuko can hold her alcohol quite well, but she's been drinking nearly the whole day since we watched Kuwabara's fight, so she becomes incoherent enough eventually. I try to pace myself, keeping my rule of having only two drinks and then slightly sober up. But Atsuko pops open another can of beer and passes it to me, so I'm stuck drinking three - which isn't good for my sobering-up plan. I start getting tunnel-vision and saying weird things.

Shizuru tells me that I'm speaking English, and not very well either. I open another can for her like Atsuko did for me, and make her drink it too.

Botan sings when she's drunk. Loudly. I wonder aloud if there's a karaoke place on the island, and Botan sings a long yes, so we decide that we should go find it. Keiko looks worriedly at the walls and agrees, probably thinking of the neighbors. So we all pull on our shoes and head out the door, taking the elevator down to the bottom floor. Keiko asks the clerk in the lobby for directions and he directs us to a building about a block away.

The karaoke bar is covered with bright, blinking signs and music trickles out of the open doors. An attendent waves us in, gives us mikes, and directs us to a room. Botan fiddles with the karaoke machine and the attendent asks if he can bring us anything. Atsuko asks for beer, while Shizuru and I nod seriously, trying to look as sober and as twenty-years-old as possible. He merely nods and leaves the room and I think we find a good puppet to do our bidding.

Botan finds a song that she likes - one by Hamasaki Ayumi, and starts singing. She has a good voice, but she holds it high and thin, like Ayumi does. Botan waves me over when the music stops because she wants me to sing an English song, but the attendant comes back with a pitcher of beer, so she has to wait. Keiko takes a turn though, singing a song I have never heard by a new idol that I have also never heard of.

Botan gets a bit violent with me when Keiko is done, so I comply with her wishes and search for a song that I can work with. They don't have Brandi Carlile, sadly, but they did have Lady Gaga. I sing "Bad Romance" and "Americano" and sit down before Botan can make me do anything else. The beer is making my body full and heavy.

Botan claims that since part of "Americano" in Spanish, I have to do another song. I tell her she should be happy that I even knew some Spanish. She scowls at that, but tells me that she'll pick the next song for me and that I have a pretty voice. I hug her and tug affectionately on her ponytail.

Atsuko sings a song from a kids' anime that Yusuke watched when he was little - one that Keiko apparently watched with him, because her eyes began to shine with unshed tears of nostalgia. Shizuru laughs when she remembers Kuwabara dressing up like the main character, and I pour myself another beer, uninvolved because I never watched this anime.

Botan asks me how Florence + The Machine sounds and I crow a yes. I sing "Blinding" with gusto, because it's one of my favorite songs. But after I finish I get really tired and lay down on the couch and pass out.

I have had too much to drink, and my throat is dry and I have a headache, but I know nothing anymore. I am dead to the world. If the girls try to wake me up, I don't know it. If God tried to wake me up, I wouldn't know it.

Kurama wakes me up though. His arms are wrapped around me and my face is buried in his neck. My arms hang down his back as he carries me back to the hotel. My coat isn't on me properly, like someone just set it over my shoulders, but Kurama's arm keeps it from slipping. I can hear his voice rumble in his chest, in his throat, as he talks to someone. His voice is low, quiet, but has a hard edge to it. I realize that he's upset. I feel my arm lift, skimming his back, and my fingers curl around the back of his neck in a placating gesture. His arms tighten around me in response, and I slip back into dream world.

When I wake up again, I am in my bed and so is Kurama. He sits against the headboard, propped up on two pillows, face turned to the ceiling. He's asleep, as I can tell by his even breathing. My body is curled around him, face pressed into his thigh.

How did this happen? I wonder. I sit up and realize his hand is tangled in my hair. I try to dislodge his fingers without waking him up, but it's useless. He wakes up as soon as I move to sit up.

He stiffens as he gathers his surroundings, and realizes that he's not in danger. "It's just me," I tell him. "You're pulling my hair."

He makes an affirmative sound in his chest, and pulls his hand out of my blonde bird's nest. He straightens up, fully awake, and turns to look at the red clock on the nightstand next to him. It's seven-thirty-two. There isn't much light in the room at this point - only what little comes through the crack of the curtains that are drawn shut, and I watch him get to his feet. He turns to me, looking me over. "How do you feel?"

"Hungover," I say plainly. "What happened last night?"

His eyes flit to the side, as if wondering what all he should tell me. "Botan called and said they needed help getting you back to the hotel. You passed out, so I carried you back."

"I remember that part," I say, rubbing a kink in my shoulder. "You sounded angry at someone."

"They let you drink too much," he says simply, running his fingers through his red hair. "When I got you back here, you refused to let go of me, so I ended up sleeping next to you."

My body goes rigid and my hand freezes in the air. "Oh," I mutter. And then I feel like I'm a thousand miles away in a mountain temple somewhere banging my head against the stone floor. I tell myself it could be worse. I could have tried to shove my tongue down his throat. I roll out of bed and turn to the bathroom. "Sorry about that. You should go back to your room now." My voice sounds odd and disjointed.

Kurama disappears through the door, giving me a lingering look. I don't return it, but I feel his eyes on me.

When he leaves, I slam the bathroom door behind me and wash my face with ice cold water. I determine that I need a boyfriend. After all, the best way to get over a man is to get under another one. I need someone who can take my mind off Kurama. I need someone to make me feel alive again.

Shizuru agrees with me when I tell her all of this, and then she tells me about Sakyo. She's swayed by his cool demeanor, his dashing scar, his sharp tongue. She's only met him a couple of times, but he's all she ever thinks about. He's invaded her dreams like the angel of death. She wants to meet him again.

I live vicariously through her and tell her I will make it happen. I know that Sakyo is not a good man. I know he's a horrible person, but Shizuru wants him, and she'll get him if I have anything to say about it. At least until he dies, anyway.

"When do you plan on making this happen?" she asks. She is doubtful.

I tell her as soon as possible.

I'm really sorry. This chapter is short and weird and took me forever to get out. I really don't know what happened. D=

Thanks, as always, to everyone who reviews: Alice Colelynn, Marionette Mirror, Angela, Number1Fan, wiwi, EclipseStripe, mydnightfox, JazyXIII, kenshinlover13, wolvesrain17, middlekertz, Cadens Stella, Kushiel's Fallen, Animelover1754, Obvious Pseudonym, BlackBulletButterfly, MyLifeInWhole, KuramaMustangElric, Neon Knightly, and Kai-chan94.