"Shuichi being an old ass demon kind of makes a lot of sense," Goten said. I finally explained the situation to him and Trunks. My brother took the news of my latest assignment pretty well. He was a lot like my dad and not much fazed him. Trunks on the other hand was not as chill.

"How does that make sense?" Trunks asked.

"Because he's a weirdo. All the weird stuff about him makes sense," Goten said. "He's always had weird energy. Good for Urameshi for finally taking Gouki out though. Why didn't you ever think to shoot him in the mouth?"

I remembered Genkai's words about what I would do when I found a problem that I couldn't punch to death.

"Yusuke and I have different approaches when it comes to handling cases," I said. "Which is why it's good that he sent me after Kurama."

"Kurama?" Trunks asked.

"That's his name, I guess," I said with a shrug. "My cousin who's a demon is named Kurama."

"How are you two not more weirded out by this?" Trunks asked.

"I mean, this is pretty low on the bar for weirdness honestly," I said. "I mean compared to the million other things that could've happened, this is kind of a relief."

"Agreed," Goten said. "Plus, our aunt will stop being sick and our mom will finally be able to relax about her sister."

Trunks nodded in agreement. "I guess so. Still a sketchy crowd to run in."

"Yeah. He's not saying anything about it though," I said.

"What about the other guy?" Goten asked.

"Hiei? He's definitely too fast for Yusuke. I got one good hit off on him though and he bailed so I think he's worried about what I'm capable of," I said. "If he's as smart as he seems to be, I'm sure he's going to come back with a strategy that will give me a hard time."

"Speed is not your strong area," Goten said with a chuckle.

"Thanks for the unnecessary reminder," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Be careful," Trunks said.

"I am always careful," I said. "I come back mostly in one piece every time, right?"

"Let's aim for all in one piece this time, sister," Goten said. "Especially since his sword turns things into demons. The last thing we need is you walking around out of control. I would not be into cleaning up after you."

"I'm aware, thank you," I said. My phone buzzed in my pocket, alerting me to a text from Yusuke.

Yusuke
You have no idea how much it hurts to breathe right now.

I was happy to see he was recovering well. And Botan had only yelled at me a little bit when he'd gotten back home yesterday. That was good at least.

"Urameshi okay?" Goten asked.

"Thriving," I said, putting the phone back into my pocket.

"You sure things are gonna be okay with Kurama?" Trunks asked. I nodded. "And you don't need any backup?"

"I'm good. You can stop worrying," I said.

"I'm always worried about you," he said.

"I know," I said.

"Aww, look at you guys, all making up and everything," Goten said.

I rolled my eyes. "Why are you like this?"

"Because I have to be," he replied.

The bell rang overhead, signaling the end of lunch.

"Let me know how it goes after school," Trunks said.

"I will," I said. "You'll be my first call."

Goten made kissy noises at us and I punched him in the arm. He chuckled before running off to class.

"He's so annoying," I said. "I know he's doing it because he's happy for us and because he's my little brother he's obligated to be annoying, but still."

"Well, when you finish this assignment, I'll finally take you out on that date," he said. "Just you and me. No audience." He took my hand and kissed the back of it.

Even though I was still staunchly against PDA at school, my whole face still went hot from the contact.

I smiled and pulled my hand away. "You keep doing that and I'm gonna have to kick your ass."

Shiori wasn't awake when I got to the hospital. I sat in silence while the doctor talked to Kurama. Things had taken a turn. Things were not looking good. He'd been instructed to call our family and tell them that now was the time to say goodbye.

Of course, that wasn't in Kurama's plans. We left the room and walked up to the roof. The sky was orange and pink as the sun sank into the horizon. The night would be here soon.

"Are you sure you don't want me to call my mom? Or Grandpa?" I asked.

Kurama nodded. "It won't be necessary in a few minutes." I hoped he was right.

I could see the moon starting to peek through the darkening sky.

"Have you reencountered Hiei and Gouki yet?" Kurama asked.

"Gouki is dead. I'm pretty sure I scared Hiei off, at least for the moment," I said.

"Hiei's not so easily frightened," Kurama said.

"Well, he tried to fight me. He was doing a great job because, as I previously stated, I am not fast, but before he could get a hit on me, I got a hit on him. I think he underestimated how strong I was," I said. "But one hit and he ran off."

"Your Spirit Energy has potential, but I'm sure he's unfamiliar with how well most humans handle ki. And then there's the Saiyans," Kurama said. "Perhaps you startled him. He wouldn't retreat for no reason. I'm sure he's reassessed his moves. You should be careful."

"How do you even know that guy?" I asked.

"He found me actually," Kurama said. "As I said before, I was well known in Spirit World and Demon World for my breaking and entering abilities. With his Jagan Eye, he was able to find me."

"And you decide to work with him because of your mom?" I asked. Kurama nodded. "I'm not saying I wouldn't do the same thing for my mom, but that guy seems like an asshole."

"He is. But there is… More to him than you might guess. If he didn't have his heart set on evil, he would make a good ally," Kurama said.

"You know, he said the same thing to me, except that it was a shame I worked for Spirit World and didn't try to take over the world more often," I said.

"That's almost a compliment, coming from him, at least," Kurama said.

"Well, I'm flattered, I guess," I said. "Still gotta kick his ass though."

"Understandable," Kurama said.

The sky had grown almost completely dark, the moon was brightening in the sky. We were close.

"Do you know what you have to give up to us the Forlorn Hope?" I asked.

"Yes," Kurama said, placing it on the ground and kneeling in front of it.

"What is it? I assumed you have to give up, like, hella energy or something," I asked.

"Very close," Kurama said. The moon glowed brightly above and reflected in the mirror.

"What is it?" I asked.

He looked up at me and said, his face blank and his tone even, "My life."

A second later, the mirror roared to life. A swirl of wind and energy kicked up and swirled around us.

No wonder he hadn't been concerned about getting caught. He was going to use the mirror to save Shiori and then he would be dead, so the consequences didn't matter.

Except they mattered a lot. I'd been right to trust him, to know that he really did care about his mother, about his human family. But he was my family too, and he was literally here to make the ultimate sacrifice. I had to stop him, but I also couldn't let him not save Shiori.

I listened as the mirror asked him what his wish was and if he was willing to give up his life. Just as he said yes, I ran over to the mirror.

"Wait, no!" I shouted. "Take my life instead!"

"What are you doing?" Kurama asked.

"Do you know what it'll do to your mom if she survives all this just for her son to die? That would kill her," I said. "So, take my life instead."

The light from the Forlorn Hope grew brighter and brighter, overwhelming us both, and then we were plunged into darkness.

I was lying on the ground, dazed a few seconds later. Kurama and I both sat up and stared at the mirror.

"Because of the nobleness of your wish and your friend's willingness to make a sacrifice, I have granted the wish without taking a life," the mirror said. It's light-faded and it became silent.

I let out a sigh. That had been a hefty gamble. Shit like this almost always had a canceling-out effect like this. I'd been betting on it, but also was fully prepared to take the loss and let my family and friends set out to find those Dragon Balls so they could revive me and yell at me for being reckless.

But Shiori had lived. Would be healthy. And Kurama would get to enjoy his life with her.

"You're an idiot," he said.

"I'm an idiot? What the hell were you thinking? If anything, I'm an idiot who just saved your life," I said getting to my knees. I picked the mirror up from the ground and shoved it into my bag. "Go see your mom."

Without another word, Shuichi was gone through the roof door. A second later Botan appeared, riding on her oar, looking frantic.

"What happened? Koenma told me you have to give up your life for the Forlorn Hope to work! I came as soon as I could," Botan said.

"It's fine. I have the mirror. My aunt is fine. Kurama is fine," I said.

"How did you manage that?" she asked.

"Well, I jumped in and asked the mirror to take my life instead. The Forlorn Hope thought it was such a nice gesture, it let us both off," I said. And that's when she whacked me upside the head with her oar. I was only upset that I hadn't seen it coming. "Yeah, I probably deserved that."

"I can't believe you would take a gamble like that with your own life! What if you had died? You expect everyone to just round up the Dragon Balls to revive you?!" she shouted.

"Yes, actually," I said. I ducked this time when she tried to hit me. "Hey, look, I lived okay? Everything worked out. So, don't stress. Besides, it's family. What was I supposed to do? Just let her die? Let him die? No way."

"The problem with you, Kairi, is that you'd have done it for a stranger," she said.

I conceded to this. I would have done it for anyone. Because that's just who I was. I protected all of the people all of the time whenever I could, however I could. Botan wrapped me in a hug.

"Thank goodness you're safe," Botan said. "Try to be a little less reckless. One of these days you're going to get yourself into more trouble than you can handle."

"Yes, but then you'll show up to bail me out. You always do," I said.

"At the risk of my own health," she said.

"I'm going to go see my aunt. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to start hunting Hiei down," I said. "Let Yusuke know what's up for me, will you?"

My mom was sobbing on the other end of the phone as I walked into Trunks' house. I'd called to tell her the news, that her sister had made a miraculous recovery. That she would be discharged from the hospital in a few days. That she would have many more happy years ahead of her.

At his request, I didn't tell her about Kurama. Aside from Goten and Trunks, everyone else in my life was going to keep on believing that Shuichi was a human, and not a demon named Kurama. It felt a little easier that way. I'd never roped Shiori or Kurama into my nonsense; they dealt with enough nonsense being in-laws to my dad.

"I'll be home soon. I just wanted to make a stop first," I said. "I love you and stop crying. Call Shiori." I hung up the phone and looked over to Bulma who was standing in the kitchen. "Hello."

"If you're here for dinner, you missed it," she said.

"No, I'm fine. I ate at the hospital. Shiori is going to make a full recovery," I said.

"That's amazing! Your mom must be over the moon," Bulma said.

"Yeah," I said. "Are Goten and Trunk around?"

"You just missed your brother, but Trunks should be up in his room," she said.

"Thanks," I said, heading to the stairs.

"Kairi," she said quickly. I turned and looked back at her. "Keep the door open, thank you."

Right. Because I was going to be alone in my boyfriend's room. I'd hung out with Trunks loads of time, in his room, just the two of us, the door open out of habit. But now I was being directed to keep it open.

"Of course," I replied. I walked up the stairs and headed to Trunks' room. I knocked on the door and pushed it open when he shouted for me to come in. I peeked my head inside first. "Surprise."

"Hey," he said, setting the controller for his videogame aside. "I thought you were going to call or text or something."

"I decided to drop in. You're not far from the hospital," I said. I pushed the door open and walked inside. I sat beside him on the bed. "You'll be happy to know that I have retrieved the Forlorn Hope, saved my aunt, and, since you have to give up your life to get your wish, I also saved Kurama."

"How?" Trunks asked.

I sighed. "Well first, you have to promise not to yell."

He frowned. "What did you do?"

And so I explained to him what happened. And just like Botan, he was not pleased.

"Why are you like this?" he asked.

"It's genetic. I go all in every time for everyone," I said.

Trunks groaned and rested his head in his hands. "You have zero self-preservation skills."

"Yeah, I know," I said. He sat up and looked over at me. "What?"

"I was worried you might get into a fight or something, but here you are talking about just willingly flinging yourself into the arms of death on the off chance he'll reject you," Trunks said.

"And he did. And so here I am," I said.

He shook his head, but he smiled. "You're exhausting, you know?"

"I like to think of myself as exciting," I said.

"Too much excitement is bad for you," Trunks said.

"Not enough excitement is bad for you too," I said. "Gotta get your heart rate up every once in a while to keep it in good shape."

"I can easily spike your heart rate without confronting you with the threat of death or violence," he said.

"How so?" I asked.

He kissed me again, suddenly. His warm hand rested on the side of my face as his lips pressed into mine. He pulled away from me and was smiling. To his credit, my heart was racing in my chest.

"Well?" he asked.

"Point taken," I said.

"I thought so," he said smug as ever. He kissed me again and again. His fingers were in my hair and my tongue was in his mouth. My heart was pounding so loudly in my ears that it was all that I could hear. I couldn't tell when I'd last taken a breath.

"Okay, teenagers." Bulma's voice at the door startled us away from each other. "Some ground rules."

Trunks let out an exasperated sigh so quiet that only I heard it.

"Okay," he said. "What's up?"

"First of all, when Kairi's here, the door stays open," Bulma said.

"It is open," Trunks said.

"I know, thank you," she said. "Rule number two, Kairi has to leave by nine."

"Nine?" Trunks asked. "Really?"

"On school nights," she added. "Ten on weekends. And if you guys go out you need to be home by 11 and Kairi can't come over afterward. Do you understand?"

"Yes," we said in unison.

"Good," Bulma said. "It's 8:45 now, so, fifteen-minute warning." She walked out of the room and Trunks sighed.

"I almost feel like that was intentional," Trunks said.

"I don't doubt it," I said. I rested my head on Trunks' shoulder. He ran his fingers through my hair. I'd put my head on his shoulder many times, but this felt different. Every time he touched me now, it always felt like there was something more to it. Every touch and hug and push of his fingers through my hair was tinged with subtext.

What had changed in us just admitting that we liked each other as more than friends? Why did I feel this magnet need to be close to him now whenever we were in the same room together when we were alone?

And it wasn't just that I wanted to kiss him all the time since I'd kissed him the first time. There was something else, just about his presence that made me feel tightness in my chest.

"What do you want when we go out?" I asked.

"I'll surprise you," he said. "Dinner and a movie sounds too cliché for you. Besides, I can't talk to you during a movie."

"You'd be too busy making out with me in the dark anyway," I said.

He chuckled. "That too, I guess." I sat up and looked over at him. "Gonna tell me you still feel weird about this?"

"No," I said shaking my head. "I was actually going to say that I think I'm still lying to myself about how much I like you. Is that weird?"

Trunks shook his head. "You, and I don't mean this in a bad way, tend to stay away from dealing with difficult, complex emotions."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"I think it takes you a while to figure things out when your feelings are involved," he said. "I just think you want to avoid getting hurt at all costs."

"Doesn't everyone?" I asked.

"Yeah, but no risk, no reward," he said. "You gotta learn to take risks even when you're not in a fight."

I lifted my head from his shoulder. "No risk, no reward is true, but is the reward worth the risk? That's what I keep thinking. And I keep trying to figure out what's different between us now than where we were a week ago before all… This."

"Aside from being able to kiss you now?" he asked. I chuckled. He shook his head. "No, I don't know either. I just feel like… I want to be with you all the time. And when I am around you I'm happy."

I leaned forward and kissed him again. "Me too."