Kimiko took a deep breath before she knocked on Kagome's bedroom door. "Kagome? Can I talk to you, sweetheart?" Kimiko called out.

"Sure thing, mama. Come on in!"

With a soft sigh escaping her, Kimiko pushed the door open. What she found was slightly concerning. "Um, Kagome? What are you doing with those boxes?"

"I'm packing away the books that grandma gave me," Kagome declared with a deep frown.

With a look of confusion, Kimiko glanced in the boxes to see a few stacks of grimoires. "What are you going to do with them?"

"Throw them away? Sell them to that occult bookstore in town? Who cares? I won't be using them," Kagome declared firmly and slammed a book down into the box.

"I understand that you feel upset towards your grandmother. But you have to understand that she was just doing what she felt was right. Despite her being completely misinformed," Kimiko soothed.

"And wrong. Don't forget wrong," Kagome supplied.

"I think that she would argue that it's a matter of perspective," Kimiko replied with a smirk. "Unfortunately, sweetheart, we can't choose our family."

"No kidding. My grandma tried to waste my best friend. Who knows what she would have done to Vlad!" Kagome exclaimed while standing to close a full, cardboard box. "Life is starting to get seriously complicated, Mama."

"Tell me about it. I don't think it's going to get any easier any time soon," Kimiko said and pecked Kagome on the temple. "Kagome, I'm going to head out for a little while. Can you get dinner started for me? I'm not sure when I'll be back."

"Sure thing. Are you going to see Vlad?" Kagome asked with a conspiratorial smirk.

Kimiko frowned in slight annoyance before shaking her head with a smile. "I'm just going to talk to him."

"Sure. Have fun," Kagome responded with a wink. Her teasing was cut short by Kimiko suddenly using her magic to levitate a pillow from off the bed and smacking the pillow into Kagome's face. "Hey!"

"See you later, sweetie!"

~:~

While Vlad greatly enjoyed his position of power, the amount of paperwork that he had to tackle on a daily basis was quite the "drag" (as the young people called it). He almost missed the regular ghost attacks. At least then he was given small breaks on a semi-daily basis. Fortunately, a break was coming in the form of Kimiko Higurashi. Finally! Vlad quickly tucked away his paper work before moving to shut down his computer.

When the door opened slowly and Kimiko hesitantly stuck her head through, Vlad grinned brightly. "Come in, my dear," Vlad greeted and stood with his arms gestured wide. Kimiko stepped into the room silently before softly shutting the door behind her. "And what do I owe the pleasure?" Vlad asked.

"I'm sorry for dropping in unannounced like this, but there was something I really needed to tell you," Kimiko started.

"Perish the thought! You are always welcome, my dear," Vlad said as he ushered Kimiko towards one of the soft chairs in front of his desk. With both hands on her slim shoulders, Vlad pushed Kimiko down onto the seat before he moved over to his personal wine refrigerator. "Would you like a drink?"

"Before you break out the wine, I want to get some things off my chest," Kimiko disregarded. Vlad's hand stilled in the middle of opening the wine bottle. He raised a single brow in question. "Nakoda said a lot of things the last time we spoke, but one thing really resonated with me."

"I'm sure that it wasn't anything of consequence. Besides, I thought you said that she already left town," Vlad replied and returned to opening the bottle.

"She did leave. But what she said before she left made me think..." Kimiko said and stood. "I don't think that this relationship will last," she finished. Kimiko jumped slightly when she heard Vlad fumble with the bottle just before a glass fell to the floor.

"What? W-what are you saying?" Vlad asked as he approached her.

Kimiko took a deep breath as she stepped back to regain some distance. "Vlad, I have no problem with you being half-ghost. But it doesn't change the fact that other witches will feel very strongly about it. Please understand that I'd rather avoid having to put you in any sort of danger for being with me," Kimiko explained.

"That's ridiculous! Kimiko, I appreciate your concern, but I am a grown man. I think I am able to make this decision for myself. Not only that, I am not exactly defenseless. I've honed my ghostly abilities for twenty plus years," Vlad argued in a firm tone.

"All the experience in the world won't help you against a witch with just as much experience hunting ghosts," Kimiko rebutted with a chastising tone.

"Just what are you getting at, Kimiko?" Vlad challenged with a raised brow.

Kimiko squared her shoulders. Vlad posture was lean and tall. His shoulders were squared with his hands folded behind his back as he loomed over her. It was a rather intimidating pose. But Kimiko returned his slitted gaze with a glare of her own. "Nakoda is mild compared to other witches. I've seen what some witches do to ghosts and I'd never forgive myself if that happened to you. I'm trying to protect you."

"Well, I appreciate the effort but that won't stop me from pursuing you," Vlad admitted in a final tone. "I've come to terms with the fact that I will never meet another woman quite like you. For the first time in a very long time, I feel content and at peace. I will not allow you to simply walk out of my life now. I suppose you and every other witch in this world will just have to accept that fact."

Kimiko felt her frown waver. She stared up at Vlad's dark blue eyes for a few more seconds before glancing down at her feet. "The way you said it made it sound like I was a child being lectured by their parent. You're lucky that I'm feeling moved by your words or I'd have a few words to say to you about your tone," Kimiko said and boneless flopped down onto her chair.

"Thank you. I find that speaking from the heart is the best way to get on your good side," Vlad replied with a smirk. "I am curious, however. When were you exposed to ghost hunting?"

Kimiko froze. Honestly, she'd thought about telling him this for a few months now. But, she'd never found the right time. Also, there was no easy way to broach the subject. "It was a long time ago. When I was still a girl, I lived with my mother. She wasn't the most...nurturing woman. From what I can remember, she's always been completely devoted to hunting ghosts. She...taught me everything that she knew," Kimiko admitted with her hands clenched and her eyes trained on the floor.

"Kimiko-"

"Let me finish. You have to understand that all children were trained this way. It's a sick practice, like training children to be murderers. Back then, no one questioned their parents. You just learned and followed instructions until you were ready to one day give the instructions yourself.

"I had just turned sixteen when my training was complete and my mother thought that it was time to take me on my first hunt. I hadn't been the one to capture the ghost, but I was there when they were executing it. I'd always thought that we captured the ghosts and then sent them back to the Ghost Zone. But what I saw that day- what I saw my mother do- was atrocious. I couldn't do anything like that! It was terrifying to see a creature in that much pain. Now that I think about it, I can't even remember what that ghost did to deserve to die like that.

"I told my mother how I felt. I'd thought that she would understand, but she looked so disappointed in me. She called me weak. It really put a strain on our relationship. After that, Nakoda became even more of a motherly figure in my life. Not only did she and I grow close, but Judai and I grew close as well. Eventually, I considered going back to my mother and fixing our relationship. But I was so in love with Judai at the time that I didn't think twice about running away with him instead. I turned my back on my mother for love and wound up pregnant and alone. Of course, my mother threw my mistakes in my face out of spite. She was extremely bitter and after that, I wanted nothing to do with her," Kimiko finished.

"Has she tried to contact you since?" Vlad asked with sympathy in his eyes.

"I haven't spoken to or seen my mother in twenty years. Now that I think about it, I haven't had any contact with any of my childhood friends. I wouldn't be surprised if my mother turned them all against me. I guess we don't need to worry about witches coming after you for being with me. I'm basically the witch equivalent of a leper," Kimiko tried to joke as tears gathered in her eyes.

Without wasting a second, Vlad pulled the small women into his embrace. "You shouldn't worry about any of them. No one needs ingrates like them in their life. You've managed to make new, better friends without them," Vlad soothed while running a hand along the back of her head. "Besides, I'll always be here," Vlad said with conviction as if he was reaffirming himself just as much as he was her.

~:~

As he flew over the suburbs once again, Danny couldn't help but glance down at his street. His house was entirely dark inside, only the bright, neon "Fenton Works" sign providing any sign of life. Most of the houses on his street were dark, their occupants having gone to bed hours ago. A part of Danny wished that he was like them, asleep at quarter to midnight. But he had a job to do- or rather, Danny Phantom had a job to do.

"Downtown's quiet," Danny heard Sam's voice say from the Fenton Phone in his ear.

"There aren't any ghosts at the park or the school either. I think it's safe to call it an early night... And I'm not just saying that cause we're probably the only people in town that are still awake and I seriously want to go to sleep or anything," Tucker's voice said.

"Real convincing, Tuck. What do you say, Danny?"

Danny glanced across the street towards the Takahashi residence. He slowly came to a stop mid-air as he stared down at the only room with the lights still on. Through the window, he could see Kagome sitting on the window seat with a book in her hands. If he flew just a bit closer, he could see that she was wearing some pajamas and her glasses were on her face. He floated in place for a few more seconds until she suddenly got up and walked further into her room.

"Danny? Are you there?"

"W-what? Yeah. I'm still here, Sam. Let's just call it a night. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Danny said before turning off the Fenton Phone. Sighing deeply, Danny was about to fly home when his phone started ringing. With a curious expression, he unclipped the phone from his belt and checked the Caller iD. With a surprised expression, he answered. "Kagome?"

"Is there a reason why you've flown by my house four times and stopped to stare at me each time?" Danny heard her ask. He could hear the playfulness in her tone, but that didn't stop his cheeks and ears from flaming. Turning stiffly, Danny spotted Kagome staring up at him from her window. With a small smile in place, she sent him a wave.

"Oh! Uh...Sam, Tucker, and I were just out on patrol. But we're finished now so I'm gonna head home," Danny answered and prayed that he didn't sound as nervously embarrassed to her as he thought he sounded.

"If you say so, Danny."

Danny watched Kagome move away from the window seconds before the lights in her room went out. "G'night, Kagome."

"Good night, Danny."

Closing his phone, Danny clipped it back in place on his belt before turning to fly into his room. He was such a dork. At this point in time, Danny was far beyond chastising himself for his blatant signs of affection. A part of him felt that Kagome must have an idea as to how he felt about her, but he didn't like to entertain those thoughts. If she knew how he felt and still insisted that they be friends, then that was almost as bad as being officially rejected. At least this way she hadn't turned him down (yet).

After touching down in his room, Danny immediately noticed the smell. It was a sweet, smokey smell like someone had burned a perfectly good birthday cake. Surprisingly, it wasn't a bad smell. But where was it coming from? While turning this way and that to try to find this burning birthday cake, Danny felt a rush of vertigo. Losing his balance, Danny fell to his knees before slowly slumping onto his bedroom floor. Was the floor moving? It sure felt like it. Laying on the floor like this was getting uncomfortable, but his body was too heavy to move. He tried to wiggle his fingers, but he couldn't tell if it was working or not. Glancing down at his hand, Danny's eyes widened. He was still in his suit!

Through lidded eyes, Danny could see a small bowl in the corner of the room with smoke rising off it. "The birthday cake," he mumbled just before some feet entered his vision. He could see the person pick up the bowl, but he couldn't recognize their gas mask-covered face. Whose legs were those? The feet were so small! An uncontrollable laughter suddenly bubbled out of his throat. Laughing must use up more energy than he originally thought. It wasn't long before his mind and body decided that this was the perfect time to take a nap.

~:~

Moi-Moi: Don't forget to leave a review! ;)