Howdy fellas! Just wanted to say it's my birthday!

Give me a great gift by following and reviewing my story today?

Onward

I found out, very quickly, the next morning that hangovers do indeed affect this body the second morning sunlight found my eyes when it peeked through the window curtains. Trying to ignore the pounding in my head, the cotton in my mouth and the god awful taste coating my tongue, I rolled over and buried my face in the pillow with a pained moan. A muffled chuckle filtered through the fabric followed by a dip on the side of my bed. "No, go away, I don't want to be alive." I moaned, trying to roll away from Kurama when he grabbed at the pillow and attempted to pull it away from me.

"No chance of that. Come on, I have something that might help your hangover." He chuckled again and finally pulled it away from my feeble grasp. "If I had known you would be having drinks with a strange demon in our home, I would have insisted you walked with me last night instead." He added, a hint of annoyance in his tone as he got up and wandered back to his side of the room, digging through one of his desk drawers. With a grumble, I sat up and rubbed at my face with both hands, trying to push away the headache pounding away at my temples, every sound seeming magnified the second I sat up.

"Hold out a hand." Kurama returned shortly, dropping something the size of a marble in my palm and sitting back down beside me. I cracked open an eye and stared down at the seed sitting in the middle of my hand with a blank look. "Um... Are you expecting me to eat this, because I have to say, I don't see it going well." I looked up at his amused face with a frown, holding the seed out to him in question. Shaking his head, he reached out and plucked it from my palm, fingers twisting around it's shell so the brown husk cracked open, a milk sap dripping past his thumb and down his wrist. "Drink it."

I let him drop it back into my hand and watched the sap pool in my palm before I lifted it up and tasted it with the tip of my tongue experimentally. "Oh-" I jerked away with a disgusted look on my face. "Oh, no thank you I will deal with the hangover." I tried to hand it back to Kurama who laughed and pushed it back towards me. "Come on, please don't make me drink this crap, it smells like paste and tastes even worse."

"You aren't missing school because of underage drinking." He raised an eyebrow and pinned me with a pointed look. I sulked and reluctantly drank the sap on my hand with a shudder, trying valiantly to not throw it back up right on my lap. A few gags and deep breaths helped keep the crap down. Looking up at my brother, I squinted my eyes against the sun behind him and frowned at his smug expression. "Alright, let me have it. I know you want to."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." He tutted, getting back to his feet and made his way over to his desk, carefully shuffling the papers and stacking the books there so he could tuck them into his bag with little issue. "Bullshit, that smug grin on your face says it all." I slowly slid out of bed and got up myself, the pounding in my head making a violent return then ease back off to a more manageable pain instead. "Just say it already."

"The pain you're going through right now will be punishment enough, I think." He murmured, already standing beside my desk and putting my schoolwork in order as well. "I just..." He trailed off, turned around and leaned against my desk with his arms folded with a sigh. "Why do you insist on doing things that are quite obviously dangerous at the time with no regard for yourself?" I paused in my pursuit of a clean uniform and glanced over at him with a frown.

"What are you talking about?"

"Hiei. Inviting him in, drinking with him." He explained, flipping a hand in the air beside him by the wrist. "He may have helped with the demon last night, but that does not mean he is trustworthy."

"Kurama..." I sat back down, pulling on a pair of clean socks with a soft grunt. "He... He isn't trustworthy right now, I know that. But..." Trailing off, I looked at the carpet between my feet, hands hanging between my knees as I tried to figure out the best way to say what was on my mind. "Look, he's focused, I can understand and empathize with that." I twiddled my thumbs nervously, refusing to look up when I heard Kurama walk over and sit beside me. "Knowing there's more you can do and doing everything you possibly can to reach your goal."

"Nick..." He sighed, a hand appearing in my vision to touch my arm lightly. "He isn't familiar to either of us... You may know him from this story of yours, but even you've been caught by surprise over several things I've said or done." He tried to explain, green eyes wide and expressive when I finally looked over at him. "While it is highly likely he will be important later on in our lives, there is no guarantee he will be like you remember him."

"I know that, I do. It's just- Ugh, I have no idea how to explain this to you. It's just... A sense, something I can't describe." I got up and started pacing back and forth in frustration, eyebrows drawn tight over my eyes. "There's just something, he hates me but he doesn't. He doesn't hate you just dislikes you. I can just feel it, can't you?"

"No, I can't." He murmured softly, watching as I continued walking back and forth in front of him. "What does it feel like?"

"Like... It's red but not, it feels like it should be red, but it's too soft." I waved my hands around, growing even more irritated with my inability to tell Kurama what it was. "It's just something I feel, Kurama. You know how it is."

"True. Perhaps that mixing of senses gives you a unique insight to things most of us cannot." He hummed, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on them, deep in thought for a moment. "While it hasn't become an issue over the last few years, it may be your training that has brought it out into an ability that no one could hope to gain or use like you do." I stopped in front of him and tucked my hands into my pockets, watching as he lifted his head to give me a tight smile. "For now, promise me you won't do something so stupid again."

"Easily." I huffed, hunching my shoulders a bit and letting out a sigh. "As long as you can promise the same thing to me." The uneasy silence that met my request made me roll my eyes and turn away from my twin, intent on changing into my uniform for school instead.

"What you did- Last night..." His voice made me peek over my shoulder at him as I buttoned my jacket. The expression on his face one I don't think I've ever seen him wear before. Uncomfortable, worried but... Pleased? No, pride. That was pride in his green eyes when they finally looked up from the floor and over to me. "It was very well done."

An unwilling smile quirked my lips upwards as a spark of warmth bloomed in my chest at what he said. "Um..." I trailed off, sitting on the edge of my bed to tug a pair of socks on, fingers fumbling a bit in the action. "Thanks... I honestly didn't know what- I mean. I know what it looks like... But it was..." My voice fell silent again, fingers feeling numb as images from last night flashed in my mind's eye. The scream that demon made- hair raising. A shudder worked through my frame as I brushed my hair from my face and offered up a wide smile at Kurama's worried expression.

"It was something to see it work so quickly I mean. Usually it takes a bit longer, maybe my sutra are better made now I've had more time to practice with them." Brushing aside the violet worry I could practically taste in the air, I got to my feet and grabbed my school bag with a tip of my head to the bedroom door. "Ready?"

"Of course." Kurama stood to follow me, hands quickly tucking his books and things into his bag before trailing behind towards the front door. "Nick-"

I paused in the act of putting a shoe on, I know that tone of voice. That was the one he used whenever he knew something was wrong and didn't know how to get me to talk about it without being upset. "It was worse than I thought it would be, killing a demon like that." I finally admitted, pulling my shoestrings tight with a jerk. "The smell of... Shit-" I choked off a laugh, pressing the heels of my hands to my eyes, rubbing at them roughly. "It smelled like fucking pork. And the sound he made-"

"Nick, come on." Kurama's hand settled on my shoulder, jerking me from the memory playing past my closed eyes. "I'll call the school and explain you're sick-"

"You aren't getting it." I sighed, brushing his concern away and looked back down at my shoes, idly noting the laces on the right needed to be replaced soon before looking up at him and rubbing a hand over half of my face in frustration. "I can't feel bad about it. Like... I've tried, trust me- I have. I just can't make myself feel bad about killing him. I think there's something wrong with me."

A couple of hours and a phone call to the school later, Kurama and I were seated at the kitchen table, tea held between our respective hands. "Start from the beginning." He prompted finally, one hand reaching out to rest on the table, palm up once I managed to relax enough to lean back against my seat.

Closing my eyes, I rested my hand on his and tipped my head back against the chair and hummed in thought. Flashes of images flickered in my mind, pausing here and there with bright splotches of color that tugged my focus seconds at a time. Kurama made a quiet noise when I stopped on the image of Hiei's prone form on his bed, a questioning lilt to it before I shuffled past to continue on.

"There- stop a moment." His quiet voice made me pause on the moment he and Hiei began fighting the demon, his fingers twitching a bit under my hand with some unnamed emotion before he squeezed in a silent bid to go on. Curious, but also wanting to get this over with, I quickly flipped forward. Snapshots of sidling around the tree line towards Tanaka. Grabbing ahold of her and trying to pull her away.

Then finally it reached the moment the demon appeared before me, he squeezed my hand again. "Go ahead. Let me see." His quiet murmur easing the tense muscles I didn't realize had begun to build back up.

I grit my teeth and let the memory play out, the sound of the demon's voice grating on my nerves as he taunted me. The tremble in my voice evident even in the memory as it sounded back. I grimaced at the weak sound of what I said and resisted the urge to just forget the memory and move on with my life. Then the moment I began feeding the sutra played out, the gentle tug of the paper soaking up my spirit energy, familiar and calming in the action.

Kurama twitched at that, his curiosity flickering through our connection as he gently tugged at the memory, rewinding it so that moment could play out once more as he studied the action from my point of view. The tug, the spark and finally the warmth of the paper held between my fingers. He paused, playing the split second of moment where my energy was pulled into the sutra a few more times before finally letting it go and having me continue onward.

Finally, the stand-off, the warnings then the flame sparking across the demon at my command. Kurama's hand clenched almost painfully tight around mine at the sight, a vague image of something similar happening to another demon in another place overlapping mine before snapping away and leaving my memory alone as I stumbled mentally to keep it moving.

"What-"

"Never mind. Keep going." Kurama's clipped tone made me squeeze his hand a bit and fall silent once more. A sensitive subject apparently, one he wasn't ready to talk about even to me. With a hum, I moved forward playing the memory out until it ended with me arriving at home and let out a sigh.

"There, see? Nothing." I murmured, opening my eyes to study Kurama as he furrowed his brows then looked over at me with a frown. "What?"

He hesitated a moment then passed his free hand through his mussed hair, tongue flicking out to lick his lips in an unconscious nervous habit. "What happened after you arrived home?"

I frowned a bit and slowly detangled my hand from his, picking up my tea and taking a sip. "Why does that matter? You know what happened. I got home, drank some sake with Hiei then went to bed after he left."

"What did you say to him?" He finally sighed, hands curling around his cup in a pensive manner, eyes dropping to the steaming liquid inside. "Whatever happened-" He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat before continuing, eyes flicking to the window in our kitchen then back to my face. "He seems intent on staying near the house."

"Is that what has you so upset?" I finally asked, eyebrow quirking upwards with a twitch in my lips. "Kurama-"

"Nick, please. Just listen to me." He cut me off, head shaking a bit as if to brush aside anything I planned on saying. "Whatever you know or claim to understand, remember, this is not a story. Not anymore." He finished his tea and leaned forward against the table with a huff of air escaping him. "You... You don't connect with the things happening around you. The only moment that seemed real in your memory was when you used your sutra."

Recalling the way he replayed that single moment over and over again, I frowned, opening my mouth to argue only to be cut off when he looked up with a sharp gaze. "Everything seemed as if I were watching a movie, something written and played out for your enjoyment. Nick, this life you have now- This is real." He reached over and wrapped long fingers around my wrist tightly. "If you die, you will perish. I don't know what you seem to think will happen, but this is not something you can escape from."

I shuddered slightly at his words, and closed my eyes. Something in the back of my mind rebelled at what he was saying. Something small and quiet up until now that stayed hidden in the dark recesses of my mind. "I know-"

"No, you don't." Kurama's voice cut through the air like a knife, silencing me quickly as he squeezed my arm lightly. "You haven't seen anything around you. Not truly." He sighed, hand sliding down to grip my own, turning it over to study my palm, thumb brushing over the faint pinpricks of scars that he now saw dotted my fingertips. "And I believe that to be my fault. I haven't been near or around enough to keep you grounded. I knew early on you tended to disappear into your own mind when left alone for a time."

"Kurama, stop." I sighed, squeezing his hand back and rubbing at my face with the other. "Look, I get it. I know something is wrong, I'm not connecting or whatever with things or people around me-" I raised my free hand up when I saw his mouth open to no doubt say that this wasn't a story again and cut him off. "And I admit, I should know better than that knowing how things work here. But from my point of view-" I bit my lip, not really wanting to say anything now that this was finally coming out in the open.

"Nick-" Kurama twisted his fingers in mine, gaining my attention away from the dark pit inside of me and flicked his gaze over my face a moment then sighed. "I... I can't claim to understand what you're going through. But I can promise you that whatever it is, I am here for you." At my blank look, he backtracked a bit and grimaced, pulling his hand away to pick up his cup and stand. "Now anyway. I won't leave you in the dark. Not anymore." He turned away and headed into the kitchen, the faint muttering floating over to where I sat making me grin reluctantly. "Not that it helped to begin with..."

"Deal." I drained my tea and glanced at the clock with a sigh. "Come on, we better get going or we're going to be late for our already late call-in." His hand slid into view, taking my cup and disappearing into the kitchen to wash and put it away with his. Getting to my feet, I gathered our bags and headed back towards the door, shoes already on and tied by the time Kurama joined me.

"No more secrets?" I asked, pulling his bag back from his outstretched hand, eyebrow raised when he let out a sigh, shoulders slumping the slightest bit.

"No more." He agreed finally, green eyes flicking up to meet my own, honesty shining in them making me smile lightly and hold his bag back out for him to take. Opening the door, we stepped outside and locked it behind us before heading down the walkway. "Of course, that means I need to know whoever has been teaching you how to use spirit energy."

I did not like the chill that rolled down my back at the tone he used when he said it.

By the time Mother was home at the end of the week, Kurama and I had worked out a schedule of sorts in our personal lives. The days I went to train with Daisuke, he would walk me to the shrine but never set foot on the stairs, simply choosing to stay and wait at the café across the street instead. This was because of me begging him not to just storm the place and scare the old man witless with the fact that my brother was a Demon.

Afterwards, we would go to school, put on our polite masks and get through the morning classes. At lunch, we would meet up in either the library, classroom or roof depending on our moods or what needed to be talked about that day. Now and again, we would feel the warm fire of Hiei's energy at the edge of our collective awareness, but the grump wouldn't come anywhere close enough for us to see him.

After school we would walk back to the temple so I could spend an hour with Daisuke who took the time to test me on what I knew about my own energy while I did homework over tea. Generally simple questions I didn't need to think too much about, and with his help, my history was much better than before. Afterwards, I would meet Kurama and Mother at home and we would have dinner together. Both of us choosing to cook now she tended to get too tired to stand on her own feet for more than a few minutes at a time.

Fridays were our only days truly apart outside of school. I would tutor Keiko, who still hadn't managed to convince Yusuke to tag along, on English then spend the rest of the day practicing making sutra until Kurama returned home later that night.

Slowly we returned to a normal state with one another, back to that close relationship we had before all of this happened. It was easier to laugh and joke around when I knew he understood what I was saying again. It was easier to go to sleep at night knowing he was in the other bed. I would never admit it out loud knowing full well his ego was large enough as it was, but I needed him there. I needed a grasp of reality, someone who knew where I came from to remind me this was real, this wasn't just some strange dream or story I fell into.

It was harder for that little voice at the back of my head to say those things to me whenever he was around, whenever he spoke to me as Nick and not as Shohei.

Because when Kurama spoke, it made me think that just for a bit, even for a second, that maybe I wasn't so unimportant after all.