Anything. Everything. You choose.

Takes place shortly after end of the anime.

It was a rainy, overcast evening in the Kannagi household and Kirika was sat on the veranda that ran along the house, listening to the soothing sound of the rain fall. She wasn't alone, Kazuma had just opened the shoji sliding door to the main building and dropped to the floor at her side.

"Here," he dropped an envelope onto the floor and pushed it over to her without explanation.

"What's this?" Kirika asked.

"Money."

She opened the envelope and saw that it was indeed full of money. Quite a lot of money, actually.

"Why are you giving me this?" she asked him.

"I owed you. From before…" Kazuma replied, looking out at the pouring rain. "You remember, don't you?"

"Ah," Kirika have a rueful smile. "Of course I do. But I thought you'd forgotten all about it. I can't recall my car being worth that much back then."

"Inflation," he shrugged. "…I'm sorry," he muttered.

"Eh?"

"You heard me. I'm not saying it again," he snapped.

"I don't think I've ever heard you say it even once," she smiled.

"Well, now you have," Kazuma sighed.

From inside the main building, Ayano and Ren listened eagerly with their ears pressed against the shoji sliding doors. Genma and Jugo could hear perfectly well even without appearing so obviously invested. The doors were only old paper after all.

"Nee-sama, nii-sama just apologised!" Ren whispered to her.

"I know! Maybe he hit his head recently?" Ayano pondered. "And did she just say 'car', what about a car?"

"I'm sorry," Kazuma said again, despite his statement that he wouldn't repeat it.

"What for?" Kirika asked, gently and he scoffed. "For slicing my car to pieces or for not waiting until I got out of it?"

"Anything, everything, you choose. I've done so many things that need an apology, if I say it for all of them, I'd die of old age before I finished saying it to you," he replied.

"I see," Kirika pursed her lip at his unusually genuine tone. "And what brought this on? Did Jugo-sama put you up to it?"

"Don't be stupid," he chuckled deeply. "Even if he did, which he didn't, I stopped taking orders from the Kannagi a long time ago. I just…figured it was about time I paid you back. You worked hard to pay for that ugly old car, and I just…"

"Do you need a favour? A big one?"

"No!"

"Alright," she laughed. "Apology accepted. All of them. Consider us even if you like, but I wasn't holding you to account for anything."

"You could've. You should've."

"Why?" she asked with a tilt of her head, "We all make mistakes."

"We don't all go on fucking insane rampages like some stupid cartoon villain. That's more than just a 'mistake'," he ground out.

"Language," she scolded, amused.

"Shut it," he grumbled.

"…You've changed," Kirika remarked.

"Too little too late."

"It's never too late. But most people don't bother learning from their mistakes. I see it every day. In my work I'm used to seeing repeat offenders. It gets you used to thinking a certain way; that people don't ever change even if you want them to. It's tragic but there it is…But I'm glad you proved me wrong," Kirika smiled at him. "I like this version of you now, much more than the one I first met two years ago."

"Don't know why; I was a real charmer back then, wasn't I?" he joked, his voice dripping with self hatred.

"Oh sure. What woman wouldn't fall for the red eyed Shinigami riding the cruel black wind, threatening complete destruction on everyone in sight. Be still my beating heart," Kirika joked and he gave a rueful scoff.

He tossed a very gentle breeze her way with a wave of his hand and it toyed playfully with strands of her blonde hair.

"I used to be terrified of the wind," she said in a much more serious tone now. "Of you. Every time I felt even a slight breeze I thought…oh, he's here and he's going to kill me. There doesn't even need to be a reason, maybe he's just bored. I'd never felt so afraid before or since. And I knew if you just decided to kill me one day, there's nothing I could have done to stop you. None of us could. Well; it's not like that's changed, really. I still couldn't stop you. But…I don't mind that anymore. I don't fear death on the wind now," she said.

Kirika raised her hand to touch the visible breeze that was hovering around her. It was cool to the touch, but it wasn't ominous and it didn't send chills down her spine as it had before. "It feels completely different. Now, when I feel the wind blowing, I don't mind looking around, expecting to see you there, smiling that arrogant smirk and wondering what sort of trouble you're going to cause next," she laughed.

"Trouble? Me? Give me some credit. I don't cause trouble, it just follows me around. I'm innocent, y'know," he grumbled and lay down onto the wooden surface of the veranda.

"You and the word 'innocent' don't belong in the same sentence."

"How cruel," he said and they both laughed.

"It really came as a shock," she remarked after a moment. "I still can't believe that you now…and the you from back then are the same person. People really can change."

"It's not that I changed, I just…" he whispered. "It's exhausting, being that angry for so long. Maybe I'm just too lazy to hold a grudge for a long time. I didn't do it consciously, I didn't have some kind of life changing epiphany about all my mistakes. Don't try and make me out to be something I'm not. I'm not a good person. I was just…I was so tired," he closed his eyes.

"Tired of…what, being angry?"

"That and…everything, I guess. Maybe I was hoping one day I'd run into someone strong enough to just stop me for good."

"And by that you mean…"

"You know what I mean," he said, blinking across at her.

"I see."

"When you're that angry and you've already crossed the line like that, there's nothing left to really loose, is there? Anyway, it didn't happen, did it? It's ironic, isn't it? I know I've got limits, but in all that time no one could stop me no matter what I did. It was so easy. That didn't bother me back then, but now…some people just shouldn't be given so much power, y'know? Especially not people like me."

"It's not as though you could simply get rid of it, now that you've got it. But I'm sure we'd all appreciate it, if you didn't go on any more 'rampages'," she said.

"No promises. But I'll do my best," he replied, sarcastically.

"I'll hold you to that. And if you do, we'll just set Ayano on you again."

"Ah, scary! Okay, absolutely, no more rampages! Reformed Shinigami's word of honour!"

"She could be as strong as you one day," Kirika said.

"I hope so," he hummed, nonchalantly. "It'd be one less thing for me to worry about. And for you. If I went nuts again she could just kill me."

"You sure about that? No matter what you did I don't think she'd be able to kill you. I don't mean because of your power, I mean, because she's in love with you."

"She might not have a choice one day," Kazuma said, not commenting on her 'love' remark.

"You just said you'd do your best not to make that a possibility," she remarked, clearly unhappy.

"Who knows what'll happen," he said evasively.

"You haven't changed completely; talking to you is still annoying," Kirika remarked; her left eyebrow twitching.

"Mmmm," he hummed, smugly. "But she's probably your best bet if something did happen. If you sent anyone else I'd just get even more angry, especially if you sent the old man."

"As if I'd do that. If I sent Genma-sama to stop you in that state, things would only get worse. Between the two of you trying to kill each other, half the planet would be obliterated," Kirika scoffed.

"Only half? That's insulting. At least make it three quarters," he pouted.

"A half or three quarters, millions of people would die either way. I can't believe you're being so picky about something like that," she sighed.

"Then don't insult me."

"Yep; still annoying as hell," Kirika lamented.

"Well, I'm a demon from hell, y'know, makes sense."

"Now you're just being overly dramatic."

"It's a demon thing."

"Ah, I see. A demon. Then…" she trailed off.

She pulled out a few paper charms, called ofuda, from her pockets and dropped them onto his prone form without a word. One landed right on his nose and his eyes opened comically wide.

"Wha!" he yelled and it was then shredded into confetti by the wind. The other had touched his hand and then it too, was destroyed. He had jumped up onto his knees and was transported by the wind a few feet away from her. "Don't do that! Those stupid things tickle, y'know!" he cried, pointing a finger at her.

"It's an ofuda not a feather! It's not supposed to 'tickle'!" she snorted.

"Well, they do," he rubbed his nose, annoyed.

"Geez. They're supposed to be practically indestructible. It's meant immobilise and seal evil away and all I get it 'oh, it tickles'," she did a poor imitation of his voice. "How irritating," Kirika added.

"Sorry your little bits of paper don't do anything!"

"Little bits of…" she harrumphed, indignantly.

"I can't believe you dropped one on my nose! Did I lose my nose or something?!"

"I wish."

"Oi! I'd look pretty stupid without a nose, y'know! I need my good looks to get by!"

"No, your good looks are half of what gets you into trouble," Kirika said.

"I told you…trouble just follows me. It's not my fault! Ah, geez it still feels weird," he rubbed at his hand now where the second paper charm had landed. "Maybe I'm allergic. I guess that's what I get for letting my guard down around you, huh? I was trying to be all sincere and decent and that's the thanks I get," he grumbled.

"No, that's what you get for being annoying. The sincerity, I actually appreciate. It was a nice change," she retorted.

"This is why I don't do nice things. Bad stuff happens."

"It's karma," she shrugged.

"Too bad I can't kick karma's ass," he stood and leaned against one of the narrow wooden posts that held up the overhanging roof.

"Wouldn't recommend it, even if it were possible."

"Spoil sport," Kazuma sighed, crossing his arms.

"You'd have sliced me into a thousand pieces if I'd tried that two years ago," she remarked.

"No, two years ago you wouldn't have even gotten close enough to try it. Maybe I've just gone soft in my old age," he said, his back still turned to her.

"Maybe," she got to her feet and stood beside him. "They wouldn't believe me back in England if I told them the Shinigami of the black winds had gone soft," she said.

"Pathetic, aren't I?"

"Well, you are when Ren or Ayano ask you for something and you cave every time," she joked.

"I do not!" Kazuma yelled, indignant.

"Yes, you do. It's cute. You're so wrapped around their little fingers it's just funny," Kirika smirked with a tilt of her head.

Kazuma hung his head in exaggerated despair. "I always was, at least in Ren's case. That cute little squirt just knows how to push all my damn buttons! His eyes go big and he just sits there staring at me and he damn well knows I can't say no! It's not fair!"

"And in Ayano's case?"

"Well…that's new. We weren't all that close as kids, y'know. But, things change," he shrugged.

"You're a push over. It's okay to admit it."

"Ah…I think I feel another insane rampage coming on," he said dryly.

"Don't even joke about that," she gently gave his shoulder a shove with her own. He hardly budged though.

"Who's joking?"

"It's not funny."

"What? Too soon? It's my insanity, I can make jokes about it if I want," he insisted.

Kirika's stern expression didn't falter so he sighed heavily and acquiesced. "Fine, whatever you say. No more insanity jokes," he grumbled.

"You are feeling generous today, aren't you. I should take advantage of that while I can," she remarked.

From her jacket, she took out a white envelope stamped on the back with an elaborate seal. "It's for you," she said, holding it out to him

"What is it?" Kazuma asked, talking it and curiously opening the envelope and unfolding the letter inside.

"A letter. It's a formal request from Buckingham palace, one of several I've had in the last few months by the way, for you to fix what you did to Big Ben," she explained.

"Boring," he declared after quickly reading the short letter, written in English. He tossed it both it and the envelope over his shoulder in complete disinterest and it fluttered to the floor.

"Kazuma…" Kirika sighed.

"What?"

"Just fix their damn clock, will you? They're really annoyed about it."

"Don't wanna."

"You…" she lamented and he chuckled. "Fine, call it a favour to me," she tried.

"You said we're even. Why would I do you a favour?"

"I might actually smack you right now," she declared.

"Oh? Make it a good one!" he joked, crassly.

"You'd actually like it, wouldn't you?"

"Only one way for you to find out."

"I'll just give them your address. I'm tired of them asking me about it and being caught in the middle. Maybe they'll extradite you."

"I'd like to see them try that. How would they even prove I did it?" Kazuma scoffed.

"We all know it was you."

"That won't hold up in court. Try again. And anyway, aren't we supposed to keep the existence of magic a secret as much as possible? If they try and prove it in court that won't be keeping it a secret, will it?"

"You have no right to say that when you're the one going around destroying things in broad daylight!"

"I didn't destroy it, I just tilted it. And how many times do I have to tell you, it was an accident. I was working that first case for the palace and it just…happened. It was a casualty of war against youma!" he said pedantically.

"Kazuma," she ground out.

"Hmmm?"

"Just fix the clock…please."

"Ah, well, you should've said 'please' before, okay, fine. I'll do it," he grinned.

"Eh?" Kirika blinked at him, stunned. "You will?"

"Of course."

"…Can I get that in writing?"

"You want it written in blood?" Kazuma joked.

"If it'll help," she said with a deep sigh.

"Jeez, you slightly, very slightly slant one national monument, by accident, one time and people are on your case about it for the rest of your life," he lamented.

"You haven't damaged any other national monuments anywhere, have you? Do I even want to know?"

"Well, not damaged as such, but I did jump off the Eiffel Tower one time," he said, smugly.

"W…why?"

"I was bored and maybe a little bit high. Seemed like a good idea at the time," he replied.

"Unbelievable," she sighed.

"Isn't it? See, I'd met these twins by the Seine and…"

"I don't want to know!" she exclaimed.

"One was a man, y'know?" he said with a dark smirk. "And one was a woman," he added.

"I really don't want to know," Kirika held up a hand to her head as though fighting off an oncoming headache.

"It was the French accents, I think," he mused.

"Kazuma, I said…"

"They thought it'd be a good idea to…"

"Alright," Kirika growled and released a stack of hidden ofuda from her pockets, at least ten in each hand.

"It's okay though. I was only about half way down the Tower when I remembered that I could fly," he smiled holding up his hands in mock surrender. "And I didn't break anything or damage the tower so it was all fine!"

"Half way down the…what would have happened if you hadn't remembered?!" she blanched.

"Dunno. I'd have broken some bones I guess," Kazuma shrugged.

"Idiot. You really are just an idiot with magic powers," she lowered her head.

"You gonna put the paper things away now?"

"Mmm…I still kinda wanna throw them at you," Kirika said.

"I'd rather you didn't. Tickling really isn't a turn on."

"Might knock some sense into you."

"I doubt it."

"Geez," she sighed and pocketed the pieces of paper. "You're a lost cause. I feel sorry for poor Ayano-chan. She's going to have a difficult time of things," she declared.

"But it'll be fun," he replied devilishly with a hand on his hip.

"Didn't anyone ever warn you not to toy with a woman's heart?"

"I must've missed that lesson."

"No kidding. Whatever. I'm not getting involved. If she tries to kill you, that's on you," she held up her hands.

"Not getting involved? What've you been doing up till now? Admit it, you've done nothing but get involved. Really, you're as bad as me. You should be ashamed of yourself," he laughed.

"Then, here's where I draw the line," Kirika replied.

"I'll believe that when I see it," Kazuma scoffed.

"And in the meantime, you'll fix Big Ben?"

"I'll fix it, I'll fix it. I was gonna go looking round for information on where Bernhardt's disappeared to anyway. I'll just deal with it on the way," he shrugged.

"Still not heard anything, huh?"

"Nothing," he sighed.

"Me neither."

"Unsettling, isn't it?"

"It really is. Where are you thinking of going?"

"Here and there," he shrugged.

"Well, don't stay away for too long this time," she said.

"Yes, mother," Kazuma mocked.

"Is nii-sama leaving again?" Ren asked aloud with wide eyes.

"I asked him to go and search for any trace of them. He's the best tracker I know," Jugo declared.

"But…" Ayano frowned.

"It won't be for long. And we have to try something," her father said. "I don't want to send Kazuma away but he agrees; it's for the best that he's the one to go. His abilities are far better suited for tracking than ours."

"I guess so," she sighed.

"When are you leaving?" Kirika asked.

"A few days, maybe a week. I've been putting it off, really," he replied.

"Ayano-chan's seventeenth birthday is in a month or so, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Then you better be back by then."

"That's the plan," he sighed.

"Good," Kirika nodded, satisfied. "Did you get her a present?" she then asked.

"Yes, I got her a present. What is this, an interrogation?!"

"Just trying to help."

"Thought you weren't getting involved," he stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not."

"You're such a liar," he chuckled.

"Come see me when you get back, will you?" Kirika said.

"Oh? Why?"

"Just to say 'hello' to an old friend."

"You wanna check if I fix up Big Ben, don't you?" he asked and she smiled angelically. "Such a slave driver," he sighed.

"Someone has to keep an eye on you."

"I'm not a child."

"If you were, things would be easier. You're worse than a child. You're just a troublemaker," she retorted.

"All you do is insult me. Why do I put up with you?" he asked.

"Beats me. Maybe you're a masochist," she suggested.

"Ah…"

"The fact that you're an idiot aside…"

"There you go again…"

"Thank you," Kirika said, interrupting him.

"What for?"

"Anything, everything, you choose," she said, mirroring his words.

"Funny," Kazuma smirked at her.

"I'm a funny person," she said and leaned closer to him. She then planted a gentle kiss to his cheek with a smile.

"Great. Now you've done it," he sighed.

"Erm…nee-sama?" Ren questioned, nervously.

From the small opening in the slightly opened shoji door, they'd been watching and Ayano was still transfixed at what she was seeing.

"I'll kill him! I'm going to kill for good this time!" Ayano ground out, angrily. She was glowing with furious energy. "That stupid, stupid flirt! Die, Kazuma!" she yelled and wrenched open the door.

"Eh? Ayano, you still here?" Kazuma turned round and saw her.

"I live here, you idiot!"

He made a point of looking around in exaggerated movements. "Ah, so you do, good for you," he replied with a smirk. "Why'd you look so angry?" he asked her.

"He's all yours, Ayano-chan," Kirika smiled and took a step back.

"You traitor. You absolutely did that on purpose. I'll get you for this. I'm not fixing that stupid clock. I'm gonna tear it down, you hear me?!" he grumbled at her.

"Kazuma!" Ayano growled.

"What?" he then asked the fuming Ayano. He didn't sound or look threatened at all.

"Die!" she yelled and called forth Enraiha in her flaming hands.

"Oi! She kissed me! I had nothing to with it!"

"Idiots," Genma remarked, uninterested while Jugo pursed his lip, amused.