Rei says: Aren't you guys surprised? Chapter 11 isup already! It's been what, three or four days since Chapter 10!
The only reason for that is because my friend Emily was practically begging me to update and get my ass on a chair and type. Heh. So yeah. You're going to have to thank her. And I'm going to thank her as well, because she left me a zillion reviews - one for each chapter...TT I felt so loved-ed! -teartear- Oh, and thankies to my dear friend Ai and, again, Emily, for giving me these hella awesome ideas for the rest of the story. I think the next update will be pretty quick too. I'm so inspired! Hoorah! And also - Koji, and 14thShrineMaiden, and Ryoko - thank you for the lovely reviews. I'm excited for your new iPod! I'm desperately in need of one...it's kinda sad, I haven't gotten one already. And 14, that's EXACTLY what I was going for! I really wanted for Kana to not just be friends with the YYH gang because it didn't seem realistic (to put it in Cookie's words) . Pssh. Okay.
Enough rambling.
ON TO CHAPTER 11!
Chapter 11
The next two days seemed to pass by in a blur. How he explained this to his mother, Kana had no idea, but Kurama insisted on staying those two nights. Instead of being paranoid, Kana eventually grew accustomed to having Kurama there and enjoyed a peaceful night's rest. Those two days were uneventful – only uneventful in a sense that there was no unexpected visit from a certain wolf demon.
"Thank heavens for weekends," Kana mumbled to herself, rooting through the fridge to find something to eat. It was already ten in the morning, and Kana was grateful to be able to sleep late. She looked over and saw Kurama's red head seated over on the couch, watching the television.
"Shouldn't you have left already?" Kana asked, and Kurama swiveled his head to look at her.
"Oh, you're awake." He said, then continued, "I should be leaving soon, yes…" He seemed to pause for a moment. He turned the television off, getting up and padding over to where she stood in the kitchen.
"Can I ask you something?" Kana questioned, grabbing a cup and filling it with the last of the orange juice. She took a sip, but then made a face, trying her best not to spit it out right back into the cup. After swallowing it with difficulty, she got into a coughing fit. "Ew." She dumped the rest of the orange juice into the sink, tossing the paper cup into the garbage can. "Ugh, that was awful. How does orange juice go bad?" She shuddered, and Kurama laughed.
"Did you check the expiration date?" He inquired, an amused look played upon his face. Kana flushed, shaking her head. "I think it's a sign you need to do some grocery shopping."
"Anyways." She continued to dump the rest of the carton of orange juice into the sink, "I really want to know what you're telling your mom. About you. Sleeping here." She eyed him curiously, tossing the empty carton into the garbage. After she did so, she turned around and faced him.
"Nothing really," he said softly. "I just tell her I'm sleeping at a friend's house."
"For three days in a row?"
He laughed. "My mother wasn't home last night; she went with her new husband on a business trip of his. My stepbrother is away on a school trip. She comes home tonight and my stepbrother comes home tomorrow. I don't think I can make it tonight. She'd get a little suspicious."
"Don't worry about it; I've had the knight in shining armor stay here for three nights, I think I'll be fine if I stayed the night alone for once." Kana laughed, waving her hands in the air in dismissal. She coughed. "You said new husband. And stepbrother." Kana stated. "So does that mean your mother remarried?"
Kurama nodded. "They got married in July."
"Ah," Kana said, tapping her chin with her finger thoughtfully. "Do you like them?"
"As long as my mother is happy," he said. He smiled at her, slipping on his shoes. "I'm afraid I have to leave now."
"All right," Kana said, walking over to him. "I'm definitely going to see you later – if you don't mind, I was hoping you'd drive me over to the food store, seeing as how I'm desperately in need of real food."
Kurama nodded. "I'll come by later." With that, he said his goodbyes, and Kana shut the door silently behind him.
She surveyed her apartment slowly, closing her eyes. Finally, some peace and quiet. With all the things that happened this week, it was nice to slip into something normal again.
"But first," she muttered to herself, "I've got to find Aki's stash." Aki kept a stash of money somewhere in his room, but where, Kana had to find out. She knew that if he were here he'd probably kill her, but he'd have to deal with it. She needed the money right now to pay off the rent for next week and for groceries, because the only thing left in the fridge now was some lettuce and old milk. Yuck. Definitely not what she could live off of for god-knows-how-long…
She sighed, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she marched into Aki's room. She paused, studying the room. Her face softened. How long has it been since Aki left? It seemed like ages, but in reality it must have been only a week…It was just different. It was different without him around. They've been together for so long; being alone now was something new.
Kana shook her head, erasing her thoughts, and started rooting through his things. After a few minutes of tearing apart his room, she came upon a small box, emblazoned with band sticker and scribbles made in permanent ink. She gave a crooked smile, opening the box.
"Jackpot," she breathed, seeing the folded twenty dollar bills lying inside the box.
"Explain to my why I'm with you, grocery shopping?" Yusuke moaned, putting his hands behind his head as he walked behind Kana.
"Chill out, Yusuke," Kana said, tossing a cereal box into the wagon. "Kurama's here too," she added.
"But that's 'cause he's the only one here with a permit," he countered. Kurama nodded, siding with Yusuke.
"He's right you know," he said to Kana, who shook her head.
"Whatever you say," she said nonchalantly, hauling in two gallon cartons of milk into the grocery wagon.
"You know, I don't think she really cares," Yusuke whispered. Kurama shrugged, smiling.
"I'm just here because I am her only ride here and back," he said. "But walking around a grocery store…" He trailed off, and Yusuke got the hint.
"…Is not really the greatest thing in the world," Yusuke finished. Kana rolled her eyes.
"Stop complaining, you two." She said, "We're almost done." Kana turned to face them. "It's not that bad."
Yusuke snorted. "Well, it's better than going with my mom," he said, raising his eyebrows for emphasis. "'Yusuke, do you know where the milk is?' 'Yusuke, do you know how much this costs?'" He mimicked, shaking his head. "She's impossible. You'd think she was just born yesterday."
"Done!" Kana beamed, having tossed in a loaf of bread. "Let's go over to the checkout." She started to run down an aisle with the wagon, not bothering to wait for Yusuke and Kurama. She looked behind her, laughing, seeing Yusuke start to chase after her. Kurama held his hands in his pockets, walking calmly as if he were taking a leisurely stroll in the park.
"Watch where you're going!" Yusuke yelled, and Kana turned her head in time to see a huge display of paper towels loom into view. She yelped, swerving the wagon just in time to avoid it. She sighed, hanging her head low. Her black hair covered her face like a curtain.
"I almost died," she wailed, lifting up her head to face the two. Yusuke and Kurama came up behind her. Yusuke clapped her on the shoulder, laughing.
"I don't think that would have happened, but you would have created a huge scene." He said, and grabbed a hold of the wagon. "My turn," he said, grinning.
"Hey!" she called after Yusuke, who was already heading over to the checkout. Kurama stood behind her.
"We'd better go after him," he said softly, and Kana jumped.
"I didn't see you there," she said, a hand over her heart. "You scared me."
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to," he said earnestly. He smiled apologetically, then nodded towards Yusuke, who was now attempting to find the shortest line in the checkout area. "We'd better go follow him," he said, and Kana nodded.
"Yeah," she said breathlessly, then took off down the aisle after him at top-speed. "Yusuke! Hold on! I'm the one with the money here!" Kana cried. She grabbed the wagon out of his hands, throwing him a look. "These are my groceries," she muttered.
"Well, you guys are too slow," Yusuke replied, yawning. "I could have gotten old and grey if I had let you make your way slowly down here to the checkout, slowly getting out the money, and slowly paying, and slowly--,"
"Okay, okay, I get it," Kana said, cutting him off. "I wasn't that slow," she added softly.
Yusuke laughed and rolled his eyes, beginning to help Kana put the groceries up onto the checkout counter. Kurama had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, helping them as well.
After handing the cashier a few bills and receiving her change, Kana wheeled the wagon filled with her groceries out the door, with Yusuke and Kurama in tow.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Kana said finally, after they successfully loaded the grocery bags into the trunk of Kurama's car.
Yusuke didn't answer, but slowly nodded his head. Kurama smiled in answer.
"It certainly was interesting," he said simply, his emerald eyes focused on the road, and Kana watched as the smallest trace of a smile came upon his lips.
"Thank you so much," Kana said, having placed all the groceries away in their proper places, with the help of Kurama. They had dropped Yusuke off at his house before making their way back to Kana's apartment. "I can now eat real food."
At this Kurama smiled. He tossed the last of the grocery bags into the garbage can, then shook his head. "It's no problem," he said, "you really needed some food anyways," with a look that referred to tasting the orange juice this morning. Kana flushed, waving her hands in the air.
"Anyways," he said, changing the subject, "I told my mother I'd come right home after we were finished…" Kurama trailed off, looking at her with those eyes. Kana looked away, then nodded.
"I'll see you tomorrow or something, all right?" Kana said, and Kurama nodded his agreement.
"Tomorrow, maybe," he said. He exited the room, leaving her with a grin and an empty apartment once more.
Kana sighed, opening the fridge and pulling out a bottle of soda. She twisted the cap off of it, and downed most of it before being interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Who could that be?" She wondered aloud as she set the soda down on the counter before answering the door.
"Are you Miss Iokuzo?" A man in a police officer's uniform asked, his tone was strong and demanding. Kana's eyes widened, her heart seemed to stop. She began to panic. What's wrong? Why is a policeman here?
"Y-yes," she managed to get out. Her body felt cold. Had she done something wrong?
"You'll need to come with us," he said. "We believe we have found the body of your father, and we'll need you to come identify him."
Rei says: Yet another cliffhanger. I'm getting known for these now, according to my friend. I can't help it though.
Review and speed along the process of...-drumroll- Chapter 12!