4

"Demon, be gone!"

Kagome smiled sweetly when Kurama's green eyes sought hers, bright with questions. Normally, she'd be a bit exasperated by her grandfather's antics, however the handsome redhead had finessed his way into her home, and she figured he deserved to be harassed a little bit. Sorry, not sorry!

Going cross eyed to stare at the flimsy sutra that was plastered to his forehead, Kurama peeled it off by pinching it between his index finger and thumb. Curiously, he held it out for inspection.

"Huh… didn't work, eh?" Gramps made a disparaging noise, scratching his balding head. "I guess he means no harm then…"

The old man wandered away into the kitchen that was sequestered off of the living room, leaving them alone. Kurama blinked after him, then fixed her with a pointed look, quirking an amused eyebrow. "A formality in this household?"

Kagome smiled and shrugged her narrow shoulders. "Gramps can be a little bit eccentric, but he's harmless."

Ducking her chin to her chest slightly, she gazed at him thoughtfully from under her lashes. The guy was unflappable. As much as she didn't want to, and thinking of how her feudal companions would react if they knew she was entertaining an unfamiliar demon in her home, she found herself relaxing in his calm presence.

Reckless, naïve, she'd heard it all before, but deep down Kagome knew her intuition always steered her the right away, and she'd always maintained the policy that a person had her trust until they abused it. With that in mind, she supposed that she could give him a chance. If she was being honest, she found it too tiring to always be on her guard, never trusting anybody. And despite herself, she was curious about him.

It might actually be nice to have someone in this time I could talk to…

"Kagome, honey, dinner is ready!" Mrs. Higurashi called.

Again, her stomach growled, and she pressed a hand to her abdomen to quiet it. "We better go or there won't be much left once my little brother starts eating."

She made to leave the living room, when he reached out and gently touched her elbow. Pausing, she stared at him curiously.

"If I may ask a small favor, Kagome-san," he said gently. "Although I have introduced myself to you as Kurama, I am also called Shuichi Minamino. I will explain to you later."

Another name? Kagome wondered, observing him. That's odd… but he had felt odd. Like Inuyasha, but not… it's like two people in one.

Feeling the inklings of a headache coming on, she simply nodded. "Gotcha. Shuichi Minamino it is."

Together they entered the kitchen, where Mrs. Higurashi had a lovely spread waiting for them, with a steaming pot of oden as the centerpiece. Losing some of her reservations in front of her guest, she gave her grandfather a squeeze on his shoulder and ruffled Souta's hair as she passed by to take her seat at the cozy table. "This looks great, Mom!"

"Who's this, sis?" Souta asked as he swatted her hand away, eyeing Kurama skeptically, perhaps even a bit morosely. Since when did she bring strange guys over to the house? He didn't like the way the guy was looking at her. Kind of the way Inuyasha sometimes did when they weren't arguing like cats and dogs. Raising his eyebrows, he waited expectantly.

Kagome paused, a bowl of rice already cupped in her hand, chopsticks poised to take her first bite. "Erm… well Souta, Mom, Grandpa… this is Shuichi Minamino, and he is—" Her gaze slid over to his and she held it there for a long moment. "A new friend."

The word settled into the air, lost on her family members, but she hoped that he'd picked up on the inflection in her tone.

You have my trust until you don't have it.

Kurama gazed back at her for another long moment, then smiled and minutely inclined his head in acknowledgment.

Exhaling a silent breath, Kagome turned to the meal, finding her first moments of true enjoyment since arriving home and encountering the strange boy.

"So," Souta cut in, dubiously eyeing the two. "Which school do you go to?"

"I attend Meiou High," Kurama answered easily. "I will be graduating this year."

Mrs. Higurashi and Gramps shared a look, before turning beaming smiles onto him. "You must be a very smart young man. That is a great school!"

Before Kurama could reply, Souta interjected archly with a smirk. "Kagome's grades could sure use some help."

"H-Hey!" Kagome protested, jabbing towards him with her chopsticks. "I'm managing just fine!"

Souta scoffed. "Did you even see the stack of catch-up work sitting in the living room? You're doomed."

A look of panic went across Kagome's face and she tried to kick her brother under the table, which Kurama quietly observed. Given what he had deduced earlier, the suggestion that she missed a lot of school wasn't all too surprising. The only piece of information missing was the why.

"Do you miss a lot of school, Kagome-san?" he inquired, hoping to glean more information.

"Uh…." she paused uncertainly. "Yes, sometimes. But's it's not really a big deal!" she waved a hand dismissively with a weak laugh.

Mrs. Higurashi tilted her head and watched them. "Kagome, dear, if Minamino-san here isn't a school friend… is he, oh well how do you say it … a special friend?"

Kurama straightened in his chair. What exactly is she suggesting?

Kagome blushed to the roots of her hair. "N-No! He's not my boyfriend or something!"

Mrs. Higurashi blinked. "Oh, yes… well I mean he's a very nice young man… but I meant, well you know, like Inu—" she stopped and held her hands up to try and imitate dog ears.

"Are you done eating, Minamino-san?" Kagome twisted in her chair towards him, cutting her mother off. Before he could answer, she was shooing him out of his seat. "Mama, may we please be excused?"

"Are you sure you've had enough?" her mother asked. "I can send Minamino-san home with some leftovers—"

"Uh, yeah, that'd be great Mom! Thanks!"

Ushering Kurama out of the kitchen, she looked around as if deciding where she wanted to have their conversation, before steering him towards the backdoor. "Let's go outside."

Kurama was more than happy to oblige, though the oden had been delicious and he wouldn't have minded finishing dinner. Without resistance, he allowed the girl to guide him back outside once they'd put on their shoes. Drifting towards the lofty tree from earlier, they sat down on a close by bench.

"Okay," Kagome declared bluntly, "Who is going first?"

"Well, I'd very much like to know—" he started to say, only to be interrupted by a beeping noise that emanated from his pocket.

Kagome gestured towards the sound, figuring it was a cellphone. "Do you need to get that?"

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a circular disk that looked like a compact mirror, which he noticed out of the corner of his eye Kagome appeared visibly confused about.

Flipping it open, he stared into the face of a toddler and the sunny face of a blue-haired girl.

"Hello, Kurama!" Botan said cheerfully. "We thought we would check in and see how your scouting mission is going!"

"Yes, did you find out anything?" Koenma wanted to know.

Glancing over to Kagome, who was discretely trying to lean over to look at the screen, Kurama expelled a small sigh. "Reconnaissance is slow."

"Slow?" the demigod parroted. "Well what have you been up to for cryin' out loud!"

"Koenma-sama—" Kurama tried to interject.

Mystified, Kagome peeked over Kurama's shoulder, unable to help herself at the oddity that she was seeing, in turn fully exposing her face to them. "A talking baby? Kurama-san what is going on?"

Koenma and Botan blinked back at them from the small screen. Closing his eyes, Kurama heaved an inward sigh.

FTA:

Thank you all again for your comments you have left me. Sorry if the pace is going somewhat slow, but I'm trying to at least update biweekly. Reviews are always appreciated!

FTA2:

I'm not trying to be childish by saying this, but I've gotten almost 200 views on this chapter and 1 review (thank you Lairenna!)... that's less then 1%. Not really a lot of point in writing at that rate. I'd like to get better, or hear suggestions if they're constructive, or in general if you like the story leave some feedback, but yeah.. not a lot of reward for me at this point. At any rate, I am working on the next chapter.

Thanks all.