HELLO PEOPLE OF FANFICTION! I am alive! Sorry for the wait, life somtimes says no to the writing of fanfiction, but here it be, chapter 5. Hope it is enjoyed and as always, reviews are a nice thing ^_^ and TrunksgirlBlaze27: I'm glad you came back to this ^_^ This is the last chapter of flashbacks for a good long while...I myself was getting tired of the flashbacks . THANK YOU FOR POINTING OUT MY VERY SILLY MISTAKE ^_^ I must have written that part at like 3 in the morning ^_^
"Kurama?"
The red head's impenetrable poker face fell for a split second before he recovered. "Tay? What are you doing here?"
"Ummm, well I followed Cara's trail…like you said. Would I'm sorry and I'm a stupid idiot be enough to cover everything?"
With a sigh, Kurama motioned Tay inside his room. She took a seat in the corner chair and looked around the compulsively neat room. It was as if he had never spent any time in the room and yet there were luggage bags on the bed and half empty drawers like he was packing.
"Kurama, are you leaving?"
He paused in his packing and turned to look at her. "Yes Tay. I've been called back to Japan. I have a friend in need of my talents." With that, he continued to pack.
"Japan! You waltz into my town, turn my life upside down and then just leave?" Tay stopped and took a calming breath. Exploding at him wasn't going to solve her problems. "Latham told me you'd be able to help me."
Almost to himself he said, "I knew I shouldn't have given that illusionist my location." Then remembering who was in the room with him he turned to her. "I must leave Tay. A…friend of mine is in need of my assistance. If you really want your answers come find me in Japan. " Again she was handed a card, this time with an address on it. "That's the address of my home in Japan. There I'm known as Shuichi Minamino. Do not under any circumstances mention Kurama to my mother."
Tay accepted they card. Many questions came to mind about how a demon had a mother, why he was living with her and all kinds of other things but the look on Kurama's face told her to not question any further. She quietly watched him walk out the door with his luggage and leave the hotel.
… "And that's how I ended up here, on my way to Japan."
Jin was quiet for a moment, letting the whole tale sink in. He opened his mouth to talk when a flight attendant walked up to the pair. "Excuse me," she said, "but I'm going to have to ask you to put on your seat belts." She forced a smile at Tay but when she made eye contact with Jin, she lit up like a Christmas tree. "Thank you," replied Tay with a sugary sweet smile. That seemed to bring the flight attendant out of her fascinated trance with Jin's face. As she walked away, Jin continued.
"So this Kurama fellow just expected you to follow him all the way to Japan?" Jin shook his head. "That seems like a lil' much to ask out of you."
"Well, if I wanted those answers that Cara told me he was supposed to give me, I was going to have to follow him. And, obviously, here I am, on my way to Japan. But I'm just curious about that whole recessive gene thing Cara mentioned. It seems a like a strange thing to be of such importance." Tay looked out the window with a thoughtful glance. Things just seemed to be getting to be too much.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying with us and welcome to Japan," interrupted the loud speaker.
"Well lassie," continued Jin, "I wish you the best of luck finding this Kurama lad. Seems to me as though you'll be needin' it."
"Thanks Jin," replied Tay with a smile. "Maybe I'll see you around?" Jin just smiled as Tay took her things from the overhead compartment. Together the two of them made their way out of the plane and through the airport entrance. Jin waited with her while she hailed a taxi.
"Tay, I gotta ask you to be careful with what you're gettin' into. The demon world is no cakewalk."
"I know Jin but I have to try. Otherwise I'll regret not finding out for the rest of my life." Tay moved to get into her taxi, but Jin grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.
"Lassie I don't often do this but I like you and hope you'll stay out of trouble, but incase that doesn't happen," at this he pulled out a small object and placed it in her hand, "take this."
Tay opened her hand and looked down. The small object was a ring. It was a pair of hands around a heart with a crown on the top. Tay gave Jin a puzzled expression. "How is this supposed to help me?"
He gave her a sad smile. "I hope you never have to find out lassie. Now get in that taxi and find your answers." Jin gave her a gentle nudge and waved good bye as she settled into the taxi. As the vehicle drove away Tay looked back to get one last glimpse of the only kind person she had met so far and saw a group of strange looking men come and join Jin where he was standing.
"Miss?" The taxi driver brought Tay from her thoughts. "Miss, where is it you would like to go?"
Tay handed him the card. "Here please," Tay asked as she handed the driver the card from Kurama. As the taxi brought her through the city, Tay let her thoughts drift. She thought of her sister but more of the mystery that was Kurama. Why did he have a mother? How did she not know about his demon side? The energy was rolling off him in waves when she met him.
The taxi driver brought Tay back to reality once more. "Here we are miss."
"Thank you." Tay handed him the fare and walked up to the door. She knocked on the door and heard from the other side a shout of "One Moment!" A few seconds later the door opened and Kurama stepped out with a bag over his shoulder. He closed and locked the door before looking at her. When he did his impenetrable mask fell for a moment in surprise. Obviously he hadn't expected her to actually come all the way to Japan.
They stood there for a few moments in an awkward silence before one of them finally spoke. "Hello Tay."
"Hey Kurama."
Kurama sighed. "Tay are you making it a habit to find the worst time to talk?"
Tay gave Kurama a peeved look. "I fly all the way from the states and you can't find the time to talk?"
"No Tay, I can't speak with you at the moment. I have somewhere to be."
"Well then if you very well wouldn't mind, I would like to accompany you to wherever it is you need to be. This conversation of ours won't be put off any longer," Tay replied with a decided look. Obviously she wasn't going to be stopped.
With an uncharacteristically defeated sigh, Kurama motioned for her to follow. They walked in silence for a while before coming to a great building. Tay paused for a moment while Kurama continued inside. "This is a hospital," she finally said, confused.
Kurama looked back. "Yes, it's where my mother has been for the past few weeks. I was leaving to visit her when you insisted upon coming. So here we are."
They walked in and past the front desk as Kurama gave the receptionist a smile. The two of them made their way through the confusion of halls and doors until they finally stopped in front of a long term care door. Kurama gently knocked as he opened the door and entered the room. Sitting on the bed was a middle aged woman with long black hair pulled back from her face. She had a kind face and smiled at the sight of Kurama.
"Good morning mother." Kurama's expression seemed to soften around his mother.
"Shuichi dear, you didn't need to come visit me this morning." She smiled at him. "It's a school day."
"No mother, we were given the day off due to troubles within the plumbing in the school. They don't know how long it's going to take to fix it so we may be out of school for a while." Tay looked at Kurama as he spoke and, for reasons unknown to her, she could tell he was lying.
"Well how odd….hopefully it doesn't affect the rest of the year." Kurama's mother paused for a moment and then turned to Tay. "I apologize. I don't believe we've been introduced yet." She stuck her hand out. "I am Shiori Minamino and, if you couldn't tell, Shuichi's mother." Shiori sincerely smiled at Tay, something she hadn't experienced often in the past few weeks.
Tay took her hand and returned the smile. "I'm Tacey, but most people call me Tay."
"That's a pretty name. If I might ask, how do you know my son?"
Tay froze, unsure how to answer. "Well, I-"
"She's my pen pal…from the States," Kurama interrupted. She shot him a grateful look but he just continued looking at his mother.
"You never told me you had a pen-pal," said Shiori.
"It was nothing major, mother. It was for my world studies class and we just continued to keep in touch. I was surprised this morning when she knocked on our door." Kurama glared at her as if threatening her into continuing the lie.
"Yeah Ms. Minamino, I am in Japan to meet up with my sister," she put emphasis on the word and looked at Kurama pointedly before continuing. "I thought I'd come visit Shuichi while I was here."
"How nice! Well, with Shuichi out of school for the next few days, maybe you'll have time to get to know each other better while Tay is here."
"Oh mother, you must have forgotten. My science class is taking a trip for a few days, so I won't be able to visit for a while." Kurama must be an experienced liar to pull one out so fast and to his mother too.
"I must have forgotten. `Well maybe another time, Tay," Shiori said, slightly deflated. Tay didn't want to let this kind woman down, even though she'd only met her a few minutes earlier.
"Well Ms. Minamino, I'm going to be around for a while. There's a great possibility I'll be here when he gets back." After all the forced smiles she had seen over the past few days, Tay easily brought one out.
"Well then Tay, maybe you and I get to know one another while Shuichi is off on his field trip," replied Kurama's mom.
Tay brought out a sincere smile. "You know what Ms. Minamino, I'd like that."
XD I hope you all enjoyed that. I can't make any promises as to when the next chapter will be up but hopefully it will be soon ^_^