The clock struck midnight in the dark quiet night. Deep in the dark, a scream was heard. There, sat Monica breathing hard. She quickly glanced around the room carfully, her eyes full of suspicion. 'Ume…,' she thought, recalling her nightmare.
Kurama had dropped her off a few hours before and it was really late at night. Monica sighed then quickly got out of bed and walked over to her desk, taking out a box. Inside laid a crystal rose reflecting different colors of light. She carefully took it out and glanced at it.
She gazed silently at her reflection recalling her past and sighed sadly, turning the rose over in her hand. Her heart became heavy with grief of the past.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eyes, she caught the reflection of a shadowy figure in to rose's crystal. Her breath stopped, and her heart quickened, pounding in her chest. The figure slowly approached her from behind.
"Long time no see Monica," said a cold, chilling voice. Monica turned and found herself face to face with a woman with long purple hair and radiant blue eyes. She glared at the woman.
"I knew you were here. I sensed your foul presence from the star but had yet to find you."
"But of course. Your power is strong enough to sense me, for it is you who perfected the art of combining spirit energy and sorcery. Of course, I always outranked you in sorcery," spoke the woman.
"Ume, you know you could never outrank me. You never were a sorceress. You were a witch, feared by many," spoke Monica harshly.
"You, outrank me? Don't be silly Monica. You always thought sorcery should be used for the common good when it was really created for evil purposes," spat Ume, her eyes full of fury. "You were never powerful. I still can't believe Yoko fell for you! He was in love with me until you came along! He was mine! There was never anything special about you! You were weak!"
"You know nothing Ume. Nothing at all, not even love," spoke Monica.
"Oh really? You always were stubborn. It was one of your worst qualities out of many. It was for that reason that I placed curse on you. You wouldn't give up on Yoko!" screamed Ume.
"He never loved you Ume!"
"Liar! He did! I know it!" screamed Ume as she threw a blast of violet fire at Monica. Monica quickly dodged it and stopped the blast from hitting anything.
"He has never turned his back on me Ume. If he did, I would be dead right now because of your curse. You know that," said Monica. Ume glared at her.
"We'll settle this later, but I will have Yoko's love!" cried out Ume then she vanished into thin air. Monicaq sighed then laid on her bed, cradling the crystal rose in her hand.
'How am I ever going to tell Kurama?' she thought then quickly fell asleep.
Early in the morning, Kurama rang the doorbell to Tomiko mansion and was greeted by a young maid. She looked at him then spoke, "Oh, hi Shuichi! Its good to see you are well. Ms. Akimi will be right down." She smiled at him.
"No need to have him waiting at the dour Kousei. I'm right here," interrupted Monica, walking down the stairs in a light green dress. Kurama smiled at the sight of her. Kousei, on the other hand, looked quite alarmed by her mistress' sudden appearance.
"Ms. Akimi, I didn't flirt or do anything with him. I swear," cried out Kousei. Monica laughed lightly.
"No need to be frightened. I know you didn't. Shuichi of course would never betray me, so don't worry," Monica reassured her maid. Kousei sighed, looking fairly relieved. Kurama chuckled at this and held out his hand. Monica gracefully accepted it and they headed out the door.
"Your maid can be very funny at times," he spoke, smiling as he walked. Monica nodded her head and put on a grim smile.
"She does that all the time," she said quietly. Kurama, noticing the change in mood, looked at her with concern.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked. Monica looked at him pretending to look surprised.
"No, not at all!" she said quickly.
"You don't lie very well Monica," Kurama stated. Monica sighed then looked at the ground.
"I'd rather we not talk about it," she whispered. Kurama sighed, feeling hurt once more. Monica was still cold as she was the day before.
'Monica has never acted like this before except when… Could it be?' he thought quietly, looking at her face. 'But how?'
Kurama later took a trop to Spirit World. "Koenma, I need to know if there are any reports on the evil witch Ume," he requested. Koenma looked at him, then understood.
"I'm afraid Ume is in the Human World at present. It appears she is after Monica. The question is, why?" spoke Koenma, glancing at Kurama.
"No! Not now! She wants revenge on Monica! So it was she who created that portal. I should have known there was something bothering her. Ume must have threatened Monica. They have always been enemies ever since I fell in love with Monica. Ume had always been jealous," said Kurama looking worried.
"That would explain why Monica said it was personal," stated Koenma, looking thoughtfully at his screen, which revealed Monica walking down a street. "Kurama, I want you to protect Monica. She may be the key to sealing the portal. We are lucky that none of the most ancient demons have passed. They no nothing of the laws in Demon World." Kurama nodded then left in a hurry.
Minutes later, Kurama found Monica sitting on her front porch, gazing into the starry sky. Suddenly, she turned and spotted him standing there. She smiled softly then rose to greet him.
"I was wondering where you went," she said gently. Kurama gave her a smile.
"How are you feeling?" he asked with concern.
"Better than this morning. So what did Koenma want?" she asked him. Kurama froze at the question. He couldn't tell her. If he did, Monica would worry. She had never wanted him to get involved.
"Oh, he just wanted to know if any demons came from the portal," he quickly lied.
Monica looked at him suspiciously. "Is that it?" she asked. Kurama nodded. She sighed, looking unsatisfied, but accepted his answer. She then smiled once more. "Anyways, you're just in time for dinner. Care to join us?" she asked.
"Of course," replied Kurama, following her into the mansion.
Early the next morning, Monica and Kurama walked to school, talking lightly to each other. "Where is Sayuri?" Kurama suddenly asked.
"She said she had a dentist appointment. I think she'll be back before lunch," replied Monica. Suddenly, Kurama stopped walking. Monica looked at him startled.
"Monica, I've been thinking. The school prom is coming up, and it would be an honor if you would go with me," he spoke, taking her hands. Monica's eyes glowed as she blushed.
"My answer is yes. You know I will always love you Kurama. I would gladly go with you," she replied hugging him. Kurama laughed with joy, picking her up, swinging her around then planting a soft firm kiss upon her lips.
"I will always love you too," he whispered in her ear.
During lunch, Monica then met up with Sayuri at the lunch table. "Guess what?" cried out an excited bubble Sayuri.
"What?" asked a curious Monica, watching her friend jump up and down.
"Rokuro just asked me to the prom!" squealed Sayuri. Monica laughed and hugged her friend.
"That's great!" she said. Sayuri suddenly looked at Monica with a strange look on her face.
"Let me guess, Kurama asked you," whispered Sayuri. Monica blushed bright red.
"How did you know?" she asked quietly. Sayuri laughed.
"I saw Miyako looking furious today in class! Turns out Kurama rejected her. I always knew he loved you more than anything!" Monica giggled silently then spotted Kurama approaching them at a steady pace.
"Greetings Sayuri! Congratulations! Rokuro just spoke with me. Anyways, they're announcing candidates for the prom king and queen soon," spoke Kurama sitting down beside Monica and pulling her into his arms. Monica smiled up at him gently.
Suddenly, the announcements came on. "Okay, its time to announce this years candidates for prom king and queen. This years candidates for prom king are, Shuichi Minamino, Rokuro Shijin, and Ryoushin Ichiro!" called out the announcer. Cheers came from the surrounding crowd. T the sound of Kurama's name, all the girls began to squeal and faint. Monica laughed quietly. The announcer then continued. "Also, this years candidates for prom queen are, Akimi Tomiko, Amaya Keito, and Miyako Sumiko!"
"No!" screamed Miyako.
Monica on the other hand gasped then hugged Sayuri laughing, then hugged Kurama. Kurama smiled at her happily. From afar, they could hear whistling from all the boys.
In the afternoon, Monica, Kurama, and Sayuri took a trip to the park. There, Kurama saw Hiei waiting for him. "Hiei, its good to see you." Hiei said nothing, nor did he smile, he just looked at him. Monica smiled at Hiei calmly.
"Hello Hiei," she spoke. Hiei nodded silently in greeting, expressionless. Monica understood it as a friendly greeting and smiled even more.
"Kurama and I will go get us something to drink. Why don't you and Sayuri chat for a while?" Hiei nodded again in response. Monica then led Kurama to a lemonade stand nearby.
"So Hiei, what brings you here?" asked Sayuri. Hiei looked at her then looked away.
"I was ordered by Koenma to watch Monica and Kurama to make sure they were safe," replied Hiei. Sayuri smiled at him.
"You really are caring even if you don't seem like it. I knew you weren't heartless the moment I met you. You were just quiet. You always seemed to be a loner," she spoke. Hiei looked at her in surprise, but quickly hid it with his usual cold expression.
"You read people well," he stated quietly. Sayuri laughed.
"I don't know how I do it. I guess it's a gift. Monica can do it as well. We are so much alike in amny wys thought she was always more serene and quiet." At her words, Hiei turned his head to glance at Kurama and Monica. He saw them talking quietly as if sharing some kind of unknown secret. In truth, Hiei envied Kurama knowing that he had someone he could share his thoughts with. Deep down, he wanted that so much.
Suddenly, Sayuri interrupted his thoughts. "Hiei, are you okay?" she asked worried. Hiei looked at her. "You had me worried. You didn't say anything when I asked you something."
Hiei flushed bright pink at her words. 'She was worried about me?' he thought silently. He then quickly looked down, trying to hide his face.
Monica watched her two friends from afar with Kurama standing beside her. "They seem to be connecting." Kurama looked at her.
"I hope Hiei can one day find happiness with someone," he said quietly. Monica nodded then smiled as she saw Hiei blush.