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Warning: This chapter has some slightly adult themes in it, nothing too hot, but you've been warned! :)


Chapter Nine: Lost Time

"So… what do you think?"

The shop owner eyed me from behind his half moon glasses as he held my damaged violin. He was an older man, with a graying head of hair and smile lines fanning out around his light brown eyes – eyes that looked oddly, vaguely, familiar.

"How did you say this happened?" He shifted his gaze down the cracked and chipped neck of the instrument; I had taken off all the strings before coming in because they'd mostly been snapped.

"Car crash." I answered easily. "Was in the back of my folk's car with a friend when it happened and she had asked to see it. We all some how survived but as you can see..." I had pulled the story out of thin air that morning on my way to the instrument shop, hoping that it was believable. It also made a rather good cover story if anyone ever saw my newer scar.

It was weird having to come up with lies on my own, but after last night and the news Koenma had dumped on us, Kuronue and I had agreed on a day apart to think. For now, the pendant that held my partner was tucked into my pants pocket.

"Hm." Gently, the owner set my violin back in its case on the glass display counter. "I should be able to fix it, though I cant be sure that the new finish will match the old very well. This must be rather old."

"It is. I've had it since I was eleven, but it's something I really treasure." The relief I felt was more then I had thought it would be. Even if it hadn't been fixable, I would have kept it, just simply because it was the only piece of my past life I had.

The shop owner nodded his head, "Alright then, Miss Takara, I'll go put this in back and be back to discuss pricing. Go ahead and have a look around."

I watched him disappear behind a door near the back of the shop and then turned my attention to the stings section. Walking over, I played with the strap of my messenger bag, careful not to knock off my headphones that were looped around it. Chellos, guitars, basses, violins and the odd banjo lined the eastern wall, ranging from normal acoustic to hardwired electric, and all of them ranging in color, size and style.

It was amazing.

I took a step closer, leaning on the glass counter to eye a dark green electric violin with a dark wood neck and black etching. I'd always wanted to be able to get one, but money had been tight in the family when I had started wanting one, so I had never asked. Now, I guessed I could get one, with the money from my work at Spirit World, but lately, some times I wonder why I bothered. I hardly played any more, not because I didn't want to, but because I had no one to enjoy it with besides Kuronue. Master Kyo had some times sat and listened in the two years on the ranch – I was his Luna Strok, Moon Strings –after all, but he had often spent his nights in his room.

I sighed, lifting a hand and rubbed my eyes. It seemed that I was either thinking about Kyo, or Koenma's information today, and it was starting to because one big, confusing, stressful mess.

The store bell suddenly rang, and I jumped, my shoulders tensing as a new customer came in.

"Just me Dad!" a female voice rang out and I paused, blinking. Something about that voice was …

I turned around quickly, and spotted the newcomer, or rather newcomers. There was a boy and a girl, both around my age, or the age I was pretending to be anyways, and I found the girl staring back at me.

She was pretty, with light brown hair – the front of it pulled back into small braids – and matching eyes. Ner skin was the normal Asian tan and she wore a college uniform of dark brown and green. In her hand was a long, rectangular box, around the size of many in the shop, a flute container. As I struggled with the flash back of memories and shock, her face spread into a wide grin.

"Izumi!"

She ripped away from the boy's side and came rocketing to me, her arms wrapping around my tense frame. For a moment, all I could do was blink and stare down at the shorter girl in surprise. Had she always been this… energetic?

"Miyumi?" I mumbled and she gave me a gentle squeeze in reply. I couldn't believe it, one of my friends from high school, the flute player in our band. It was… amazing; I felt so light suddenly and took no time to return the hug a smile making itself known on my face. "It's nice to see you."

She pulled back, still smiling. "I can't believe you're back. I mean, I never thought I would see you again." She rambled, rubbing her arm. She looked down for a moment, and I thought I caught a hint of sadness in her eyes. I tilted my head, then caught movement as a hand rested on my friend's shoulder. Miyumi looked up and behind to smile at the other person in the room.

The boy was cute… in a different way

He had short black hair and hazel eyes. One of his ears was pierced and held a single gold loop in it, and as my eyes wandered I found the starts of a tattoo peeking out from his shirt collar.

When I looked at him, then back to my friend, she did the same and laughed slightly, embarrassed. "Oh, sorry." She waved her hand a bit. "Izumi this it Hiroki Aio, he's my boy friend. And Hiroki, his is Izumi Takara, remember, I told you about her, she was the violinist in my band in high school, before she had to go back to America."

The young man smiled, extending his free hand out to me. "It's nice to meet you, didn't think I'd ever get the chance."

I wondered briefly if this was the same guy Miyumi had been seeing two years ago, the one that went to a public school unlike we had. I returned the gesture after a moment, shaking his hand. "Same to you."

"So what happened?" Miyumi asked, once our hands had separated. "I wasn't under the impression you'd be coming back."

"Oh, I…" I rubbed the back of my head slightly. "I just, well… I missed it here, and after I finished high school, I was contacted by a law firm my mom had connections with in the area. I'm doing an internship with them right now, but I don't see myself leaving anytime soon."

My friend tilted her head, a small smirk touching her lips. "Is that the only reason you came back? Nothing to do with a certain redhead?" She smirked widened when she saw color rise in my cheeks. "Shuichi told me you guys were writing to each other, it was so cute." She giggled leaning into Hiroki's chest. "But man, the fan club was not happy, it's a good thing you weren't there."

I raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? He hasn't told me about that…" I muttered, placing that into the back of my mind for later.

She nodded her head and we all turned our heads as the owner – her father – came back out from the back. He looked a bit startled at first but then smiled slightly, and Miyumi went through another round of introductions.

After that, I was suddenly ushered over to a small table in the corner of the room and 'catch up time' suddenly commenced as her father worked around the shop. I felt kind of bad. I had never known her father owned a music store. It reminded me of how much I had kept all my school friends at arms length. If I knew what was good for me, I would keep it that way, but I had told myself I would live my life like it was a life after the tunnel incident, so now things that were 'good for me', weren't at the top of my list.

I learned quickly that Miyumi was in college, but that she was auditioning for a job at the main musical theater as a flute player and actress. She had quietly said that I should try out as well, and I told her I would think about it. Her boyfriend, Hiroki, while he could apparently play the piano extremely well, had taken a different path in life, working as one of the main artists in a rather popular tattoo parlor.

It also led to why I was there – at her father's music store – in the first place.

"I can't believe you were in a car crash… are you alright?"

"Yeah. I have some nasty scars from it, but no permanent damage." I laughed mentally at the image of Sensui crashing a car in to me, rather then what had truly happened.

Miyumi nodded her head looking down again. "That's good." She shifted a bit and Hiroki, whose arm had been around her shoulders the entire time, smiled at me.

"You were lucky."

I nodded in agreement "Yeah." I shifted a bit on the hard wooden seat. "So… where is every one else? How are they doing?"

She brightened at my words, though I wasn't really sure as to why. "Oh yeah! I guess you wouldn't know." She muttered off hand, and Hiroki chuckled slightly at her sudden mood swing.

I raised an eyebrow. "Going to tell me?"

Miyumi smiled nodding her head again. "Yeah, sorry. They're doing great from what I hear. Shino got into a college in England. He's studying abroad, can you believe it? He's so lucky! He still plays guitar a little I think, but I guess he found something more interesting than music. "

I blinked, surprised and a bit jealous, though I wasn't really sure as to why. "Oh? What's he studying?"

"Molecular Science. Ug, just saying it gives me a headache." Her smile was contagious and I gave her one back. Just as I was about to prompt her about Ai, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. They both must have seen it to, because we all turned our heads to look out the window as small, white flake descended to the ground. "It's snowing."

Her voice was calm, but I could hear the excitement in it. I nodded my head, absently grimacing at the fact that I hadn't grabbed a suitable coat this morning. I had been cold on my way over, but now I was sure to freeze, and get soaked. I shook my head; I had certainly been through worse.

"So what about Ai?" I asked, getting back on topic. Miyumi and Hiroki turned back to me. She smiled at my question. Ai and I had been close in school, well as close as I had allowed it to be. She was of mixed heritage too, and we had kind of stuck together out of necessity.

"She moved to Kyoto a few months back," she started, her smile widening as she spoke. "Izumi, she's getting married. Not for a while, but apparently she had some secret relationship with a guy a few years older then her. Did you have any idea? I didn't, neither did Shino."

I felt like my jaw might hit the ground. Ai, was getting… married? Not only had I had no idea about this guy, but also that was the last thing I would have thought about her. She had always been so free spirited, her music was the only thing that kept her feet on the ground. When had this all happened?

Two years.

That statement floated into the forefront of my mind with stinging reality. I flinched, my hand clenching under the table. That was right, I had been gone for two years. A lot can happen in that amount of time.

"I… no I didn't." I muttered, fighting to keep my smile in place. Whether my friend realized my sudden change in demeanor or not, she didn't show it, continuing on.

"Yeah, I was pretty shocked, but her parents were okay with it as long as they waited till she was at least 21 years old. They're in no hurry from what Ai has told me, so she's fine with that. In the mean time she's working to become a music teacher, and her man is a lawyer, so they make pretty good money I hear. Oh! I'll have to tell her you're back, she'll be so happy." She rambled on.

It was Hiroki who saw me shift on my seat in an uneasy manor, and easily stopped his girl friends' chatter with a slight rub of the arm. She peered at him, waiting. "Sorry love, but we do need to get going, remember?"

Miyumi blinked and then glanced at the clock on the wall that read 3:40 pm, and paled slightly. "Oh, darn it." She glowered, before looked at me sadly. "Sorry, I need to go, I have class in twenty minutes, I was just stopping by because I was early."

Right. She had a life to get back to as well.

I nodded my head. "It's fine, I should get going too before the snow gets any heavier."

"Alright. Hey, do you have a cell number? We should meet up later?"

Cell number? I was confused for a moment, before remembering an ad I had seen in the mall. Right, cell phones had come out last year.

"I uh… no I haven't had time to get one set up over here yet." I hated the sad look she gave me, and so back peddled. "But, I'll be sure to get one and then I'll leave my number with your dad, alright?" I added a big smile to show I meant it.

She perked instantly. "Oh, alright, sounds good," she said smiling as well. We all stood up and she hugged me again, before letting go and picking up her book bag. I turned to look at her boyfriend.

"It was nice meeting, Hiroki." I said to him, and he nodded his head.

"Like wise. See you around, Takara."

With another wave the couple sped off, calling fair wells to the shop owner as they hurried out the door. I waited a few moments before pushing my chair in and replacing my book bag before walking over to the counter. I finished the details for the repair order with Miyumi's dad and handed him the credit card that was linked to an account that Koenma added money to as was needed. With a final thank you, I left the shop at well, frigid air doing little to calm my slowly climbing emotional tide that had struck out so suddenly.

I just needed to calm down.

Of course the world had kept turning while I was up at the ranch, of course people kept living their lives. Why wouldn't they? They weren't working for Spirit World.

Hunching my shoulders as snow gather on my hair and back I hurried down the street back towards my apartment, ignoring the shivers that wanted to break free. As I went I continued to try and calm myself with logic.

It didn't matter that I had missed a few things. That I was behind in technology and connections. I would catch up, like I always had.

People changed, just because I hadn't seen it didn't mean the end of the world.

But it felt like it.

While every one and everything kept moving forward, I felt stuck, still living the same bloody lie – if only modified to fit a fabricated life I had lived in the last two years – and still doing the same things as before. I tried to reason with myself, things had changed. I had completed my training. I had Kurama. I had gone on a real date with him and met his family.

It wasn't working.

I stopped, two blocks away from my complex, and clenched my hand on my bag. I didn't want to go back to my apartment, where I would more then likely stare at a wall and drive myself crazy.

What I wanted… was comfort.

For a moment, my free hand twitched for the pocket of my jeans, where Kuronue's pendant was. I stilled it though, because we had both agreed to take a day from each other and to only renew the link early if my life was in danger. Besides, when it came down to it, he wasn't really who I wanted.

My feet knew where to go before I could even think it. I sprinted into an all out run, my boots slapping the pavement, my headphones rattling like a baby's toy. I passed my apartment, and turn down the street, heading away from it once more. The air burned in my throat, and my legs protested, far too use to Kuronue's aid. I couldn't stop though; my legs wouldn't do it, no matter how much they wanted to.

When I finally reached my destination, I skidded to a stop in front of the small house, crammed in with all of its twins as they filed down the street both ways.

4256 Mio Street.

His family's house.

I didn't take the time to think about how rude it was to show up uninvited with no warning beforehand; all I wanted was right behind those walls. Chest heaving from stress rather than from over exertion, I hurried up the steps of the small porch and knocked sharply on the door with my hand.

Lowering my head, I stared at the door, watching puffs of cooling air float into nothing in front of me as I heard commotion inside the household. Voices, then steps and a pause, then the steps again, this time coming closer. When the door popped open, I saw read hair and let out a loud sigh.

Kurama blinked, a bit startled to see me there, out of breath, covered in flakes of snow, my hair more then likely a mess and my headphones barely latched to my bag any more. He frowned, apparently seeing something on my face. "Izumi? What-"

I don't give him time to be his normal inquiring self. I jumped him, throwing myself at him my fingers latching on to his shirt as I pressed my face into his neck. He jumped slightly, but his arms are around me in moments, wrapping me in a cage of warmth and safety.

It wasn't until that moment that I realized I was shaking, my teeth chatting and my hands trembling on his shirt. I could feel it, how my body wanted nothing more then to break down into tears, but my eyes were still dry. That didn't stop my throat from betraying me though as a dry, cracking sob forced its way out and Kurama's arms tightened in response, much like Hiroki's had on Miyumi's.

"Its alight," Kurama muttered, and gently guided me in out of the cold and closed the door. He pulled away for a moment, so he could see my face, and I frowned at him, glancing behind him, where I saw his mother, and his stepbrother both staring in shock. Kurama took their reaction with a grain of salt and gestured for me to remove my shoes. I pulled away from him woodenly and did so as he turned to his family. "Mother, is it alright if Izumi stays for dinner?"

Shiori snapped out of her shock at her son's voice and smiled at the both of us. "Of course dear." Her eyes lingered on me and I hunched my shoulders. "Why don't you go ahead and go up stairs with her. She looks like she's had a rough day. Remember your stepfather is sick, so make sure she watches her hands often."

At her words, part of me was surprised. Not many mothers, or parents would say such a thing. I often remember my own family, how my mother would remind me to keep my door open if I had a guy over – whether or not I was dating him – and how my father would always randomly walk by my room and check on us.

But Kurama wasn't a normal boy, and he wasn't a child any more either at the age of eighteen, and it was easy to see Shiori trusted him completely.

It took me longer then it should have to get out of my boots, my fingers felt numb and rubbery as they shook, pulling at the laces. When they were off, Kurama took my right hand and pulled me forward. I followed easily, glancing back to watch as Shiori walked away and his stepbrother, Kokoda, watched us leave.

I was led up to a room I had seen many times – whether it was because I was checking on him to make sure he wouldn't be a danger in my early years on the job, or when I had knocked on his window to see him once we had secretly started going out – but had never been in. The floor squeaked a bit, even under both of our trained feet, and Kurama let go of my hand as we entered and gently closed the door behind us. I walked over to his bed on the far side of this room under the window and sat down, clasping my hand together in front of me.

I repressed a shiver the best I could as I stared at my hands. After a moment a hands touched my scalp and fingers ran through my hair and undid the clip, seeing as it was almost out as it was. I looked up and he gave me a small smile.

"I'm sorry." I said after a moment. "I can't imagine me showing up like this is alright." My shoulders slumped slightly. "I wasn't thinking… a lot has happened in the last two days and I didn't want to be alone."

He tilted his head, crouching in front of me so we were at eye level. The hand that had my clip set it down on the bed and then covered my interlocked ones. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I'm glad you came here, you're alone too much, even if you have Kuronue." He paused, his eyes flickering to my neck. "Where is he?"

"In my pocket…" I muttered and laughed slightly as he raised an eyebrow. "We… had a bit of a disagreement, and then we learned some stuff that… basically we just needed a day away from each other. "

He smirked slightly, before leaning forward and kissing my forehead. "We can talk about it if you wish. First though, your shirt is quiet wet, as is your hair. Let me see if I have something you can wear while it dries."

I nodded slightly, seeing the logic of it as he stood and opened his closet on the left wall. I quickly grabbed the edges of my shirt with both hands and pulled it up and over my head, getting the cold fabric off my skin and setting it in my lap. My jeans were mostly still dry since the ground hadn't been very wet yet at least.

Oddly enough, being in my boyfriend's room, half naked with him, didn't seem nerve racking, or scandalous at all. It might have been, if we were two normal teenagers but we both knew we weren't. I was 22 years old that spent my days working for the ruler of Spirit World. He was 1000-year-old demon in a human's body.

In all honestly calling us children was a bit of a laugh.

Whether or not Kurama thought it was weird when he came back out with a shirt and saw me sitting there much like the night I'd come back, he didn't say anything. It was possible he thought I was trying my best to brush it off, or that he truly understood that my life had no privacy in it. Even without Kuronue though, this wasn't the first time a guy had seen me unclothed, and I knew his awareness of that had to be changed.

There was just too much to talk about, it made my head swim.

His eyes darted over me and he walked over, sitting down on my right, shirt in one hand. We stared at each other for a moment, before I looked away, embarrassed about where my mind had been wondering – if only for a moment.

His hand was on me again, this time on my shoulder, the one closest to me. I looked back, find him tracing the light out line of the healed burn that had been there. His fingers were so light, like a feather's touch, and he nodded to himself apparently happy with his work. I thought he was done, but I was wrong as his fingers skipped over my bra strap and lightly touched the vivid red scar that Shinobu had left. I had always been careful to wear clothes that covered all of my scars, and while he had seen me like this the day I arrived back, I was rather sure he'd been focused on my shoulder back then.

I winced at the frown on his face and looked down, though he continued to trace the scar up from my collarbone to my other shoulder, before he took his hand away. I took a deep breath, mind racing, heart pounding from both his touch and their meaning.

"Does it bother you? I know it's not very… pleasing to look at," I asked quietly. He sighed at my question and shook his head.

"Only in that I couldn't stop it. For awhile, it seemed like that fight invaded my sleep every night. I could almost smell all of the blood around you, and I remember that look you gave me. The one that admitted you were giving up." He leaned forward, the tip of his nose pressing against the curve of my shoulder. I jump slightly, my chest tightening at the pain I must have caused him. Reaching up I petted his hair, running my fingers through it.

"It wasn't your fault." I argued. He always seemed to have a way of putting blame on himself for things he shouldn't. "I knew back then, that going to that cave, choosing to fight him, was a big risk. I'm not that strong, nothing like your or Hiei or Yusuke. But I had to try, if only to prove myself to you." I sighed. "It was, stupid of me really."

"Perhaps. I shouldn't have said those things to you that night in the park though. You had your reason for what you did, and I let my anger get the best of me." He admitted, surprising my slightly as he lifted his head, catching me in his green eyes. I often forgot how wise he was. After a moment I watched him smile, lifting his head up completely. "But to answer your question Izumi, it doesn't bother me to see it, not really, not any more. More then anything, it reminds me of why I care about you." His fingers brushed at the scared skin again, a look of almost adoration flickering across his face. "Your bravery, your honor, your strength. You're like a lion." He laughed, looking at my face; it had begun to feel like it was burnt. "You are beautiful, Izumi, your scars only amplify that."

I fidgeted, pushing some of my damp hair behind an ear. Laughed again, at my expense, he handed me the shirt and I took it, giving him a mock scowl. I wasn't use to all the complements he gave me some times. It wasn't that I didn't know I was pretty, people told me I was, but that was because they never saw more then I let them. They didn't see the scars, or the lies, or who I really was. They saw an American girl, with a nice smile and vibrant blond hair, something uncommon in Japan. Even knowing I kept so much from him, Kurama accepted all of it.

I wasn't sure how I felt about it. The fact was I was still lying to him and it made me wonder what he would think if he knew everything. Would he still feel the same? Small steps, I told myself. In time, he would know, and so would I.

I did like being compared to one of the world's top predators though. I was so often looked at as a bat because of Kuronue. And while I found the animal fascinating, I had never felt a real connection to it other then the fact that I turned into a bat demon. It had always been more of a way to connect to Kuronue, then the animal. Being compared to a lion though? I hadn't thought I would hear such a thing. It was a bit embarrassing, but I still liked it.

As I pulled the dark red button-up on, and slipped each button though the right hole, I could feel my heartbeat returning to normal. Just being around him, made things so much clearer, because even if everything else was falling apart, I knew I still had him, that we still had each other. It was what made our relationship different, special. It was what made my life manageable, even in times like these.

Once I'd pulled my damp hair out of the shirt collar, I found Kurama leaning on the wall his bed was pressed up against, using it like a headboard as he lounged on the bed. I could almost see him as he had been decades ago, his human form switched for the fox demon, his bed turning into pillows and piles of treasure.

Shaking my head, I shifted and crawled over to him when he beckoned me. Sitting down beside him, on my side, curing up against his frame I rested my head on his shoulder as his arm curled around my back. I stayed silent for a moment, pulling my legs closer and just enjoying the feeling of being warm and wanted. Then, after a time, I took a deep breath and steeled myself.

"There is a lot you should know."