"I have to go."
A fantom wind blew the hair from her eyes and she could now see him clearly. He looked odd. Expressionless almost. He said nothing else and they both just seemed to be staring. Looking in a way that was both at each other, and also past each other. She wanted to speak to him, but at the moment she was distracted by his appearance. It seemed as if his hair color was changing between a glowing silver and a flaming red. Was it a trick of the light?
"Where are you going?"
Hiseyes flickered green and yellow. Back and forth. Just like his hair. He was slowly seeming to get farther and farther away. As he drifted she could feel her feet move beneath her and start to run towards him, but she was too slow. She was far too slow to catch him and yet she was still chasing him. She outstretched a hand to grab him. Anything to make him stay just a little bit longer. Long fingers stretched till the tendons in each were sore before they dug into... Nothing. Her hand slipped right through him and she tumbled to the ground.
"Where are you going?"
A little above a whisper.
"Where are you going?"
She wanted to scream it. She wanted to yell so loud that her voice cracked and her throat went dry. If it would make him stay she didn't care. So why couldn't she reach him? No matter how much she wanted to be louder her stupid cries were still too quiet and he just kept getting farther and farther away. He had to listen. He had to hear her, dammit!
"Where are you going?!"
Sunlight bleached the already bare white walls of the room around her. Shizuru found herself splayed on her back, staring up at the ceiling. It had happened again. This time more vivd than the last. Her dreams of him had been growing more and more realistic lately. So real that it took a few moments of lying awake to realize that she had been dreaming. She curled into herself and attempted to go back to the place inside her mind where she'd last seen him.
Beep beep beep. The sound of her cell phone going off jolted her thoughts into a frantic post-awakend state. A tired hand grasped the beeping phone, but the name displayed on the glowing led cell phone screen caused an abrupt attempt to blink away the sleep. It was Kurama. The only thing that prevented her from whipping the phone up to her ear and answering in a breathless mix of excitement and anxiousness was her pride. And even that only restrained her enough to wait a few seconds in order to allow her a chance to force an tone of apathy in her voice before she finally did answer.
Kurama's voice seeped through the speaker and pooled into Skizuru's ear with a warm silkiness.
"Hello? Shizuru?"
She was hesitant to answer him. She realized that Kurama was extremely perceptive and would notice immediately that something was going on with her if she couldn't get it together. The last thing she wanted was for him to worry about her worrying about him.
"Hey. Kind of early for a phone call isn't it."
She took a deep breath. So far so good. Even she was almost convinced that his phone call didn't mean anything to her"
"Maybe, but I was hoping to catch you before you made plans for tonight. Are you free?"
"Free? Well, I guess I am... Is something going on? This isn't one of Yusuke's lame 'let's go out and get drunk' parties is it?
"No not exactly. It's more for the two of us.
"The two of us? Like a, a... oh... OH."
Was this, was he? It couldn't be could it?
"I'll text you the directions. Can you make it?"
The sound of her furiously beating heart was nearly all she could hear. For the brief moment that followed his question. The world seemed to stop and turn on its side before once again beginning its usual rotation. Her relationship with Kurama had only recently become closer, and even now it was merely platonic. He was making it more and more difficult to be ignored and she wanted to be frustrated. She didn't want to feel the tickling wings of the butterflies in her stomach. And she certainly didn't want to release the nervous bought of giggles that threatened to spill forth from her mouth.
"Shizuru? Do you think you'll be able to make it?"
"Yeah, of course - I mean... Sure. I guess"
Her usual tone of indifference had melted away to reveal the fluttering, nervous wreck, that had become her mind.
"Ok. I'll see you later then."
The line went dead and the phone slipped from her hands which were still curled from clutching it. Her heart was racing and her mind was blind with excitement. It was wonderful and terrifying all at once. Kurama had asked her out. Kurama who was easily smarter than any one she'd ever met before. Kurama who was easily one of the most handsome men she'd ever met. Kurama who was both older than her and younger than her. Kurama who was one of her annoying younger brother's most trusted friends. Kurama who kept everyone at an arms length and let no one see any weaknesses. Kurama who was dangerous. Kurama who was secretive. Kurama who was a demon and her opposite and her mirror reflection all at once. That Kurama, the very same one, had just called to ask her out on a.. a... one of those, and it felt like nothing she'd ever felt before. Shizuru grinned despite herself. She hated to feel this way for any man, and especially one of Kazuma's friends at that, but she couldn't stop the sheer giddiness that swelled within her at the thought of what had just occurred. She wanted to shout, and laugh, and jump, and giggle, and go tell that annoying girl at the end of her hall that she could get a... one of those and it had just been a choice not to all along, just like she said, and, and... She wanted everything and nothing at all. It didn't feel real. Behind all of the joy she felt there was also fear. How many times had she dreamt of him slipping through her fingers. He had been so close last time and she still couldn't reach him. Shizuru let her body fall limp as she dropped backwards onto her bed.
Kurama let out a sigh. He was dreading what he was about to do, but it had to be done all the same. He dialed the number swiftly and lifted the phone to his hear again.
" Kuwabara? It's Kurama. Do you have a minute? I think there's something we need to talk about."
Kuwabara shifted uneasily against the supple leather surface of Kurama's couch. He had been sitting in awkard silence with the fox demon for what felt like an eternity, but was more like ten minutes. In fact he doubted Kurama had said more than "Please come in." to him. Kurama wasn't a talkative guy to begin with, but for some reason it seemed as if he was restraining himself from speaking, rather than lacking something to say. A glance towards the redhead told him they were no closer to a conversation than before. Releasing a heavy sigh, Kuwabara finally turned to Kurama and spoke.
"Erhm... Listen Kurama, about what happened at Shi's place, I didn't mean to attack you like that. I just saw red. Literally. Heh heh.
Kiwabara gave a quick glance towards Kurama's vibrant locks hoping to lighten the mood with his joke, but was met with the continued silence of his companion.
"So... Um... Do you forgive me?"
At this Kurama finally looked up and regarded Kuwabara calmly.
"Kuwabara, I think its time that I explain to you the nature of my relationship with your sister."
Keiko stood at the entrance of the department store. A light breeze fluttered her skirt and hair and she looked especially "keiko-ey". It wasn't a word, but it certainly was a vibe. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to ask her to go shopping after all. Upon noticing Shizuru's approach, the younger girl smiled and waved her arm excitedly. It almost made Shizuru embarrassed to watch. She really had made a mistake. Keiko was going to blow this whole thing out of proportion. Shizuru sighed inwardly.
"Hey Shizuru! I'm glad you asked me to help you shop for your date. You-"
Before she could get out another word Shizuru had firmly placed her palm over her mouth. They stood like that for a while before Shizuru took some deep breaths and pulled her hand away.
"I told you on the phone Keiko, it's absolutely NOT a date. It's just... A dinner between friends."
Over the shock of being silenced, Keiko raised a skeptical eyebrow. It did not go unnoticed.
"I'm serious Keiko. It's not a date. You know that I'm not exactly a dating person."
"Well then who are you going shopping for?"
"Oh uh. You don't know him... that well."
"So why did you want me to come then?"
Shizuru turned away. For some one who acted like a love-sick puppy when it came to Yusuke, Keiko was surprisingly less naive than Shizuru had believed. It was making her even more nervous about her decision to ask for Keiko's help.
"Because- because I wanted to hang out. Do I really need a reason Keiko?"
"Well why don't you ever want to go out to lunch?"
"That's because I've been busy..."
"Busy with this mystery guy?
"Yes-... I mean..."
Keiko raised her eyebrow in suspicion again before spinning on her heel to face the door.
"Well come on then. You need clothes for your 'non-date' with the guy I don't know 'that well'."
Shizuru watched Keiko's retreating back before she too made her way into the department store, dreading every second. It wasn't long before Shizru had come to stand behind her that Keiko whipped a slinky black dress off the rack and held it up.
"What do you think of this?"
Shizuru absentmindedly raised a hand and ran her fingers over the smooth material. Keiko frowned to see her friend looked so unenthused.
"Shizuru."
Keiko's voice barely shook Shizuru from her daze and she looked up.
"What is it?"
Keiko huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms.
"I know something is bothering you so you might as well tell me. It's not like you to be so out of it."
"Well let's say that you and Yusuke were just friends and you wanted to be more-"
"More than friends?"
"No, not MORE than friends, just more... Friendly."
"Why ask me? I'm sure that you have more experience with that than I do.
Shizuru frowned. Keiko wasn't going to make this easy.
"I've gone out plenty of times, but you have more experience with..."
"You really like this guy, don't you?"
Shizuru remained silent and Keiko looked thoughtful for a moment before holding up the dress again.
"I would definitely wear this."
La Vie Rose was not the kind of eating establishment that Shizuru was used to attending. For one, it was French and she rarely strayed from Japanese food. But that was a minor difference compared to everything else. If she did decided to eat out it was usually at a hole in the wall fast food place that made you afraid of what you'd find if you looked behind the counter. This place was not that. Well dressed servers gracefully navigated the spacious eating area and each table looked like the table cloth alone was more expensive than her monthly rent. Crystal chandeliers, expensively dressed patrons, and exorbitant prices only added to the feeling that she was out of place. It figured that Kurama would invite her to a place like this. It just oozed poise and elegance. Two things Kurama also oozed. Even though she had allowed Keiko to do her hair and make-up Shizuru still couldn't feel like any of it was real, that is until she noticed Kurama's bright red hair at a table not too far from where she stood. She smoothed her hands over the black jersey material of her dress and ran her fingers through her freshly curled hair before walking over to Kurama's table. Her red heels made a distinctive clicking noise against the wooden floors as she walked that made her sure he knew she was approaching, but he didn't turn around. Instead she was able to make it all the way to the table before he looked up from his menu.
"You made it."
He said coolly. His gaze traveled lazily from her face to her feet and back up again before he gestured to the chair across from him.
"Please have a seat."
His tone was one of near indifference and Shizuru hesitantly pulled out her chair and sat down. Had she said something wrong? A waiter advanced to their table and attempted to hand Shizuru a menu. Just as he did so Kurama raised a hand.
"That won't be necessary. We're ready to order. We'll have the Supreme De Volaille. And please bring us your finest champagne."
The waiter glanced at Shizuru before taking Kurama's menu and leaving. As soon as his back turned Shizuru met Kurama's eyes with a deadly glare.
"What was that? I don't remember giving you permission to order for me. I don't even know what you ordered."
"which is exactly why I ordered for you. Besides, I thought we'd have more pressing matters to speak of."
"Like what?"
Shizuru could the familiar increase of her heart beat begin. This was silly. This was so silly, and yet she was waiting with baited breath to hear what he would say. Would this be where he confessed his feelings? The beginning of becoming more friendly?
"I no longer need your help with Yoko."
Shizuru's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I have the problem under control now and no longer will need to involve you."
"That's not-"
"Possible? Did you really think that the solution to my problem was contingent to your psychic abilities?"
Kurama's words lept out at Shizuru. They were almost biting. In a matter of seconds Shizuru's thoughts of her relationship with Kurama disappeared.
"So that's it. You just don't need me anymore?"
"I never needed you in the first place. You volunteered your services and I allowed you to help me."
Before Shizuru could fire back a young woman walked up behind Kurama and placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see her and smiled for the first time that night.
"Kagura. What are you doing here?"
Kagura was tall, blonde, and beautiful. She was also wearing a dress similar to Shizuru's, but had probably cost twice as much. She stared at Shizuru before turning her attention back to Kurama.
"I remembered you would be here and I decided to stop by. Who's this?"
Kurama looked to Shizuru briefly before turning back to his visitor.
"This is the sister of my friend Kuwabara."
He turned back to Shizuru again.
"This is my girlfriend Kagura."
At that moment the waiter set the plates of food on the table. He looked curiously at the awkward looking situation of the table. The pretty blonde standing behind the man and the obviously surprised woman sitting across from him. He didn't look to long and quickly poured the champagne into two sparkling flutes and hurried away.
"The sister of your friend Kuwabara?"
Was her incredulous outburst.
"The gurlfriend you didn't mention shows up after I agree to meet you here and that's how you introduce me?"
She reached angrily for her champagne flute and downed the glass in one gulp.
"I wasn't aware that there was anything that needed to be added."
"How about the girl who's been worrying about you for the past few weeks?"
"I never asked you to worry about me."
Kurama managed to grind out from his grit teeth.
"Fine then."
In one fluid motion Shizuru had pushed herself up from the table and stood glaring angrily at Kurama.
"How about my name?"
Her eyes snapped to Kagura.
"I'm Shizuru."
Kurama's flute was snatched up and drained before Shizuru marched away from the table.