Kei crossly walked through town, mumbling about 'that damn kitsune' and 'the goddamn fire apparition'. She wasn't watching where she was going, and bumped into someone.
"What the hell do you want?" She growled rudely.
"Whoa there. Calm down." It was Yusuke.
"Oh sorry."
"Don't mention it. Kei right?" He held out his hand. "Nice to see you again."
"Yeah…" She shook his hand. "What're you doing?"
"Well, I'm supposed to get back to school…it's been three years so I'm pretty behind."
"School's useless." She said quickly. "It doesn't teach you about the real world. You lived in demon world, so you'll have no trouble in human world."
Yusuke laughed. "I wish Keiko reasoned like that. She really wants me to go back."
"You're going back just for her?"
"Well yeah. I love her."
"Uhuh…" Kei didn't get it, but she wasn't about to admit that. "That's sweet. I have to go now. Nice seeing you." She ran off.
She found herself at the beach. (A/N: Is there a beach anywhere near there? Who cares?) She loved the beach. So quiet and peaceful. There was no place like that in demon world. She sat down on the soft sand and sighed.
Being in love must be nice… She thought. You think you can trust someone. For a time, you'll be at peace with yourself. She flopped onto her back, and pulled up her shirt just enough to see her wound. It's not so bad…it wouldn't even hurt if it wasn't for this damn scar. She poked it roughly. Oww… Stupid thing. She turned to look at the sky. Hmm…the sea air smells nice. She closed her eyes and started to remember better times.
Flashback:
"Daddy!" Kei ran into her father's arms. "Hehe."
"There's my beautiful baby."
"Tell me a story."
"What story?"
"The ice apparition story!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay. Once a beautiful ice apparition left her kind to seek a man. She found one and they shared the most wonderful time of both their lives. Then she returned to her homeland."
"What about the man?"
"He's still living in demon world with a family today."
"I like that story."
"I know you do." He kissed his daughter on the cheek. "Now it's bedtime."
End flashback
Kei smiled. "I love you Daddy." She whispered.
"Who was your dad?"
Kei jumped about five feet high. "Don't do that Kurama!"
He chuckled. "Sorry."
"You should be. You practically gave me a heart attack. Why are you here?"
"It's five-thirty. I figured I'd better find you so you don't get picked up by the cops."
She scowled. "Your mom had no right to tell you all that."
He shrugged. "Does anyone else know?"
"No. Let's keep it that way."
"Okay." He sat beside her. "So you like the ocean, huh?"
"Yeah." She leaned back again.
"What were you and Hiei talking about this morning?" He asked suddenly.
"Why do you want to know?"
"You were crying."
Kei met Kurama less than 24 hours before, but she felt compelled to tell him. For the first time in years, she admit what was on her mind. "I was just thinking about life. He brought up things I don't want to think about."
"Like?"
"Well..." Hell, why not tell him? "He said something about trust…and I don't think you can trust anyone."
"That's not true."
She drew a katana in the sand. "I've never met someone I could trust."
Kurama looked at the girl sadly. "Never? You've never had a best friend?"
"No."
He moved closer. "That's not fair."
"Huh?"
"It's not fair you've never found someone loyal. You deserve that."
She stared into his bright green eyes. She could feel his warm body even though they were not touching. "Are you a loyal person?"
"Sometimes." He covered her hand with his. "Everyone has a certain amount of loyalty. When someone knows they can trust you, you can trust them."
"How can you be sure."
"I don't know. You just feel it."
"What about that goddamn fire apparition? Do you trust him?"
"Hiei?" Kurama paused to think. "Yes. I think I do. Hiei refuses to open up most of the time, but even though he won't admit it, he does care about his friends." Except maybe Kuwabara. But I'll keep that to myself.
"Oh." Kei was quiet. "Why does your mom call you Shuichi?"
"That? Well, it's a long story. Basically my spirit form was in need of a host and I sought refuge in a human fetus."
"Oh. That's kind of like murder."
"It's not until the baby has a soul. That baby didn't have a soul yet."
"Okay." She was drawing various pictures in the sand. "Have you ever killed someone Kurama?"
"In battle."
"That's not what I mean."
"I know. You want to know if I ever killed someone in cold blood."
She nodded. "After you gained their trust."
He stared at her. That caught him off guard. "No."
"I didn't think you would have."
The two of them were silent, just watching the sunset. "Aren't you going to scold me and take me home? It's past my curfew."
"I'm not your big brother." Kurama said. "But we should go back, Yukina wants to cook dinner."
"That's so like her." Kei smiled. "She really is something, that Yukina. You know, we first met grocery shopping. I was yelling at the cashier because no one had yet explained the complexities of money, and I wanted to walk out of the store with all that food for free. Yukina talked to the teller and straightened everything out. I guess she could tell I was a demon."
Kurama could imagine Kei shouting at a cashier, and Yukina fixing things right up with her sweet reasoning. The scene brought a small smile to his face. "I guess she could."
Kei stood up. "Let's go back." She said.
"Okay." She's a handful, isn't she. I hope I didn't just bite off more that I can chew.
The two of them returned to find Hiei asleep against the couch.
"Does he always sleep like that?" Kei asked.
"He's not used to the alien objects we call beds." Kurama joked.
Kei giggled. "Okay."
They entered the kitchen to find Yukina cooking dinner and Kuwabara studying quantum physics. He seemed very frustrated.
"Kuwabara, need help again?" Kei asked.
He nodded and ripped his notes to shreds. "Save me Kei!"
She sat down beside him and quietly explained the laws and properties of physics. (A/N: Don't ask me I'm only 13!) Kurama was intrigued. Kei was quite a little genius.
"There you go. Understand now?"
"Yes. You're my hero."
"You say that all the time."
Hiei had woken and sat down across the table from Kuwabara. He looked out of it, but that wasn't too unusual. Yukina served a delicious dinner of pork and fried rice.
"Yukina, your food is fit for a god." Kurama said, shoveling his meal down.
"That's my Yukina!" Kuwabara beamed, and Hiei glared at him.
"Oh, it's not that good." She said modestly.
"It sure is." Kei said as she played around with her chopsticks. "And I should know, I've dined in the finest restaurants of the demon world."
"Oh really?" Kurama asked. "Have you been to 'Nakiwara Yuki'?"
"Yep. Their leeks are to die for!"
She and Kurama got into a discussion about which restaurants were the best while Kuwabara and Yukina discussed his upcoming exams. Hiei felt left out, but that had never bothered him before. However, seeing Kurama and Kei's faces as they had a lively conversation and hearing Yukina's honest concern about Kuwabara's exams made him jealous.
"Hn." He didn't know any other way to get attention.
Kei and Kurama both paused and turned. "Something wrong, Hiei?" Kurama asked.
"I've been to Nakiwara Yuki."
"Such a great restaurant, isn't it?" Kei chimed in excitedly. "I've only been there once, but I loved it!"
"…It is quite good." Hiei agreed slowly. Why did I get myself into this?
"I enjoyed the fried rice." Kurama said. "It was oddly spicy…"
"It was." Hiei agreed.
"I love spicy food." Kei said. "Especially that red stuff Yukina keeps in a bottle."
"Tabasco sauce?"
"Yeah that's it! I drank a whole bottle once."
"I see…" Kurama sweat-dropped. "That's…good…"
She grinned. "Tonight there's a show on about the best restaurants in the human world. Want to watch?"
"I'd love to." Kurama said, happy to see Kei in such a good mood. "What about you Hiei."
Uh-oh…what now? "Um…"
"Please?" Kei asked.
"Okay…" Stupid goddamn politeness…gets me every time…