FCL64: We have returned.

Kiyoshi: Unfortunately.

FCL64: Why don't you have any enthusiasm?

Kiyoshi: You have a headache. Just because it doesn't bother you that much, doesn't mean the person in your head isn't suffering.

FCL64: Oh… Well, you know the whole deal on ownership of Ayaka. Here's chapter three.

After everyone had eaten, Kurama helped his mother with the dishes. As he did so, he asked, "Would it be alright if Ayaka stayed with us for a few days?"

"I suppose." Shiori Minamino wasn't too keen on having a girl close to her son's age stay the night.

Kurama pretended not to notice his mother's hesitation. "I don't really feel comfortable telling you the circumstances. It's her business, but she has nowhere else to go."

"My father likes to drink," Ayaka said quietly. "But then he tends to get violent." She showed Shiori a bruise on her arm Kurama strongly suspected hadn't been there a moment before. Shape-shifting the appearance subtly was often very useful. Ayaka continued, "Normally I just stay at a friend's for two or three days. But after last night, I am not going back."

"She needed a friend her father had never met," Kurama added.

"Oh," Shiori said in surprise. "Of course you can stay with us. As long as you need to. Shuichi, if you could just finish the dishes, I'll go make up a bed for her in the guest room."

"Thanks, Mom."

Once Shiori was out of earshot, Ayaka stood and walked over to Kurama and said, "We've still got it. We can convince anyone of anything."

"No," Kurama replied, drying the final dish. "We don't have part three of our act."

Ayaka didn't answer. Maybe visiting Kurama hadn't been such a good idea. It just kept bringing up a past they both wished they could forget.

Kurama showed her to her room. "The bathroom's down the hall," he said. "We can talk in the morning, but right now, I really need some time to just think things over."

"Fair enough." Ayaka had had the last year to contemplate what showing up at Kurama's door might mean. He had been given no warning.

Kurama said, "Good night. I hope you sleep well."

She smiled. "First time I've had a real bed in a long time. Thank you," she paused, "Shuichi."

He smiled back. "Thank you." He walked down the hall and pulled the door shut.

He sat down on his bed, resting his elbows on his knees. He put his forehead to the heels of his hands, and his fingers got tangled in his hair.

He couldn't figure out why she had decided to come back now. It had been more than four hundred years. The past was the past. Kurama desperately wanted to keep it that way.

Because until he'd met Hiei, this life he had with Shiori was somehow better than all the years he'd spent as a thief. Boring in comparison, perhaps. But being loved and learning to love made it all worth it.

Hiei. Hiei had dragged his old life back to him, and he had picked back up all too willingly. Of course it had only been to save Shiori, but even that hadn't gone as planned. He hadn't died. Yusuke had seen to that.

But everything was different after that. He frequently helped the strong, but often irrational, spirit detective with cases. He trained the human Kuwabara. The three of them fought side by side in the Dark Tournament with Hiei and Genkai. Then they all split up. Genkai and Kuwabara stayed in the human realm. Yusuke, Hiei and he had all traveled to the furthest reaches of the demon plane.

It was there that he was forced to confront the first reminders of his bloody past. Yomi. The first of his partners. Kurama was nearly five hundred then. Yomi was a couple hundred years younger. Kurama had never truly trusted him. And he had never felt remorse at trying to have him killed. On the contrary, he often wished he had hired a stronger killer.

And now this. His past was seeking him out. Kuronue had become his partner halfway through the thirteenth century. Kurama was nearly twice his age then, but that made no difference. Kuronue was just as calm and just as ambitious as Kurama.

Their partnership soon developed into true friendship. Kurama had betrayed Yomi without a second thought. But he would have died for Kuronue. The two of them were the perfect pair. They got away with anything they attempted. They needed no one else.

Ayaka came anyway.

"Damn it," Kurama muttered. Louder, "Damn it!" He hit the wall with the side of his fist. It left a slight dent.

A moment later, Shiori rushed in. "Is something wrong, Shuichi?" She always wondered if there was something wrong with her son; he was always so calm and very rarely got angry. It was almost unnatural for a boy his age. But then she worried when he did get angry because it was so out of character.

"She doesn't let it show… She's a lot more upset than she seems," Kurama told his mother. "And there's nothing I can do." It was completely true. Shiori just didn't know that the reason he could do nothing was that he was in exactly the same position as Ayaka. Perhaps a worse one.

"Just be there when she needs you," suggested Shiori, gripping her son's shoulder. "Sometimes that's all you can do. And often it's just enough." She glanced at him, then turned and walked out.

Kurama sat on his bed and thought over everything for nearly an hour. By then, the house had fallen silent. He stood and crossed his room to open the door. He walked carefully down the hall and noiselessly opened the door to the guest room.

He leaned against the frame of the door and looked at Ayaka's sleeping face. She looked so innocent when she was asleep. To himself, Kurama muttered, "Exactly like the first time I saw you…"

Foxgirl Ray: Thanks for the review. Here's your chapter. I'm glad you thought their laughter made them sound like best friends; I was worried they were laughing too much. Also, I'm glad you liked the flashback scene, although I can't promise they'll continue to make sense; Ayaka is not the only person who tells the flashback sequences and they are not all in chronological order (sorry!). But the fact that you liked the first one is promising; it's the first time I've attempted to write a stream-of-consciousness first person pov. :) You're my only reviewer, so this chapter is dedicated to you!