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As you tore the pregnancy test open with shaking fingers, you wondered what the point was anymore. It was no exaggeration that your husband of one year, Kurama, called this “the ultimate torture.” You would never wish it on any woman. Those horrible girls who fought you for Shuichi back in your senior year of high school? No. Your (least favorite subject) teacher, whose goal in life was to make you miserable? Nuh-uh. The “mean girl” who dunked your head in a toilet and ruined not only your hair but your favorite sweater as well? Nope, not even her.
Probably, then, you got your hands and the floor all wet for nothing. You’d have to clean that up before Kurama got home. You usually didn’t even have to take a test, because you’d get your period around the same time each month, and that would be the final say. Nature’s pregnancy test, you called it. But you weren’t sure, this month, if it was supposed to come this week or the next, and you had cleverly convinced Kurama's friends to invite him for a slumber party at Kuwabara’s house, and bought the pregnancy test at the drugstore after he left. You made sure he never saw it.

Why? Because you were sick of the way your little house had felt like a morgue for the past eight months—eight months, you thought as tears stung your eyes, that you could have been pregnant. You were sick of the way Kurama's beautiful green eyes, which once lit up when they saw you, now conveyed such misery. And around this time of the month, it was pretty awful to have to walk up to him and tell him you’d failed…again. It was becoming a pattern. Worst of all, you two couldn’t tell anyone, because disappointing yourselves was bad enough. If you were to try to tell either of your families or friends, it would set them up for disappointment, too. The burden was very heavy when only two people carried it. And however Kurama was taking it, you knew it was devastating for you. It made you feel like less of a woman. It wasn't true, but that was what it felt like.
So this time, you weren’t going to tell him at all. You didn’t want to walk around the house all day with him pitying you. How would he ever know? It was difficult to outwit Kurama, and come to think of it, you never had, but this time your plan was foolproof.
Well, no point in putting it off. You were already crying, you realized, as you dipped the pregnancy test into your specimen cup for a little bit, then pulled it out again. Those few minutes, you had to wait, and you decided to spend it cleaning up the bathroom, tears blurring your eyes, as you imagined the rest of your day. But that was when you heard a knock on the door.
“(Your Name)?” It was Kurama!
“Don’t come in!” you blurted out, hoping he wouldn’t hear your stuffy nose.
“I’ll be in the living room if you need me, then.” Receding footsteps told you the redheaded beauty was leaving you to yourself, but why was he home so early? Getting him out of the way was the whole reason you suggested the slumber party.
After the floor was clean again, the bathroom clock told you that it was time to see the results of your test. There was that familiar yet unpleasant lurching feeling inside you.
But when you looked at the test, that feeling was replaced by some sort of explosion. Two lines? Really?! You dropped the test onto the floor like it was scalding hot, but it landed so that you could still see the result. And you just stared. It was there. That wasn’t what you’d been expecting; if you were, it was just a tiny glimmer of hope that was fizzling out.
Now…your breathing was tight and shaky. Your heart was beating out of your chest. Your head was spinning. Before you knew it, you were bawling hysterically, like you were in some kind of delirium. Was this really happening? All your efforts, Kurama telling you to “have patience,” eating weird health foods and vitamins—it had all finally paid off? It must have. False negatives were quite common, you knew, but false positives were almost nonexistent.
ou pitched the test into the wastebasket and collapsed backwards onto the toilet seat, still crying like a baby, but also laughing like a maniac. What was wrong with you, anyway? Why were you crying? Wasn’t this supposed to be a happy moment? And it was, but you couldn’t stop crying. You were having a baby, all right. And not just any baby. Kurama's baby.
“(Your Name)!”
Kurama was knocking again, pounding, actually. It sounded like he was worried about your sanity. Well, you couldn’t exactly blame him. You were worried about your sanity, too. You couldn’t even feel your legs in their (favorite color) pajama pants.
“Please come out,” said Kurama. “I just want to talk to you.”
As your husband spoke, you felt your muscles beginning to relax. His voice was so soothing, like a lullaby. Your crying slowly stopped as you pictured him in your mind.
“Okay.” Your voice was like a kitten’s mew as you finally got up and unlocked the door.
“(Your Name)?” Kurama said it like a question; you heard the concern in his voice as he placed both hands on your upper arms. They felt kind of tense.
“Kurama,” you said back, and before you knew it you had pressed your body into his lanky form, your head and hands leaning onto his chest. His strong arms wrapped you into a hug, and you were crying again.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shock you.” Kurama patted your back comfortingly as you just melted into his voice. He had a face for television, but a voice for radio. “I know I’m early.”
You stared up at him, your (eye color) eyes filled with tears. “Didn’t you have fun at the slumber party?”
“Of course, but I had more important matters to attend to,” he said, gently releasing you from his arms. “Would you like to tell me what it is you are trying to hide from me?”
You blinked, surprised. Bending down slightly, he touched his hand to your shoulder and you met his penetrating gaze. Just looking up into those gorgeous green eyes had always made you feel weak in the knees. The expression on his face was one of utmost kindness and love, all for you.
“(Your Name), am I going to be a father or not?”
Kurama smiled softly, and you knew he’d already guessed the answer to that one, too, but he was letting you tell him. Just the thought made you erupt in laughter.
“Yes!” you cried, jumping up and throwing your arms around his neck. “Oh, Kurama!”
This time, you were laughing without crying, and so was he. You hugged him again, drinking in the delicious scent of roses all around you, then looked up into Kurama's beautiful face. His expression was one he saved for very, very few people—pure love and caring. His vivid emerald gaze softened; his smile widened slightly; and before you knew it, you stood up on your toes, he bent down, and his lips met your own. Kurama moved his hands down the sides of your body, pausing to press tenderly at the edges of your breasts, then continuing all the way down to rest on your hips. You kept one hand up on his sturdy shoulder, the other toying with his voluminous crimson hair, soft to the touch.
The two of you walked into the living room where you had the TV, some couches, and some other pieces of furniture, and Kurama helped you onto the couch like the gentleman he was.
“I never thought this day would come,” you told him, sighing blissfully, then turning your head lazily to look up at him. “But how on Earth did you figure it out?”
“Well, if you want to know the truth, I’ve recently had the feeling you were pregnant—”
“You knew?!” you shrieked, picking up a pillow and lobbing it at him.
“Please, (Your Name), I had enough pillow-fighting last night at the slumber party,” Kurama replied, catching the pillow deftly in one hand. “And I did have my suspicions, yes.”
“W-Why didn’t you tell me?” you spluttered, furious.
“Well, why didn’t you tell me, (Your Name)?” Kurama said calmly.
“Because…because if I failed the test, you would have been sad all day.”
“Right,” said Kurama. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed if I turned out to be mistaken.”
“You rarely turn out to be mistaken, Kurama,” you told him fondly. “But anyway, this is crazy. I didn’t feel it at all, and I’m the one having the baby. So how did you guess?"
“Just a little inductive reasoning over the past week or so,” he replied. Seeing your confused look, he added, “I mean to say, I wondered if I was imagining it all, since you were late—”
“B-b-but that could be for any number of reasons!” You were starting to feel a bit of a blush in your cheeks. He had actually memorized your period schedule?
“So I hadn’t dared to hope.” Kurama smiled and pressed his fingertips onto your face; his surprisingly cool touch felt good on the heat. “But it’s more than that. We’ve spent a lot of time together in the past three years, you know, and even more since we’ve been married. Your demeanor, your mannerisms, your habits…It was all a little different. So I wondered.
“And then, on the exact day that would have been perfect to take the test,” he continued, “you claimed Kuwabara wanted me and the others to have a sleepover at his house. But I knew what that nervous and sad look meant, and I knew it was all your idea. I went to the sleepover because my friends wanted me to go, but I snuck out while they all were sleeping, because I knew I could have a slumber party with my friends any time…”
Kurama paused, then, taking your chin gently in his hands so that the light landed squarely in your eyes. Your heart began to pound.
“But something like this only happens once in a lifetime.”
“Oh, Kurama,” you said. “These past eight months have felt like a lifetime. But I can’t believe what a dumb plan that was.”
“Nonsense,” Kurama said with a grin. “My friends and I haven’t had that much fun together, just the four of us, for awhile now. I get to have a good night with them, and a wonderful morning with you.”
“How was it, anyway?” you asked him. “What did you guys do?”
“Just normal, moronic things you do on a sleepover,” Kurama replied. “Truth or Dare, eating raw cookie dough, scavenger hunts, dirty movies…We had a cupcake bar, although Yusuke ate way too many of them. And like I said, we got into a massive pillow fight around one in the morning.”
“And how did that go?” you giggled.
“When I’m on the offense, Hiei is quite good at dodging my blows.” Kurama looked like he was trying not to laugh, too. “But we had to go to sleep once Kuwabara accidentally sliced a pillow in half and Yusuke came down off his sugar high.”
“So the pillow fight was all Yusuke’s idea, huh?”
“Exactly.”
You two had started to kiss again when the phone rang.
“I think you’d better get that,” you told Kurama, pulling away. “It’s probably the guys, wondering where you are.”
Sure enough, it was. The two of you had a two-way communication device that let you see who you were talking to with a camera, so Kurama got up off the couch and answered with that. The two of you were greeted by Yusuke and Kuwabara, both of whom looked furious.
“Hey! Kurama!” shouted Yusuke. His hair was messy, the bangs hanging in his eyes, and he was wearing a T-shirt and pajama pants, like Kuwabara. The living room, you could see, was a mess, and it looked as if more than a few pillows had given their lives for the night. “You’d better have a damn good reason for ditching us this morning!”
“We had lots of fun stuff planned!” added Kuwabara.
“I’m sure Kurama would love to defeat you in more pillow fights,” said Hiei scathingly, turning the camera onto himself. “But he has more important things to do.”
“You are correct, Hiei.” Kurama's voice remained calm, but there was a look of total amusement on his face. He was standing with his feet together, one hand in his pocket, hips leaning forward just a little bit. It was a casual, yet authoritative pose, and you liked it a lot. You were also giggling again, because even though you had been romantically involved with Kurama for three years, this was the first time you’d seen Hiei in just his shorts.
“Nice black silk, Hiei,” you teased him. “You know, I always thought you were more of a tighty-whities kind of guy.”
Hiei cast you a withering glare, then turned the camera back to Yusuke and Kuwabara.
“Well, Kurama?” Yusuke demanded. “You can’t miss our popcorn breakfast!”
“Just as Hiei stated, I had important business here today,” said Kurama.
“Why do I have the feeling it’s got something to do with (Your Name)?” Hiei asked, poking his spiky black head back into the camera’s view.
“Because it has,” you said gleefully. You couldn’t keep it in anymore; you felt like a public fountain that had been filled with a bottle of bubble bath. Your giggles just kept coming, rising out of you, then coming right back for another round. “I’m pregnant!”
“What?!” cried the other three, and you remembered they didn’t even know you’d been trying. Kuwabara dropped the popcorn he’d been shoving into his mouth; Yusuke choked on a leftover cupcake, and Hiei had to pound him on the back.
“Yes,” said Kurama with a smile. “While you three were all sleeping off the popcorn and cupcakes, (Your Name) revealed that, in several months, she will give someone the gift of life.”
The gift of life! That sounded much better than, “I’m knocked up.” You beamed at your Kurama; he smiled back and nodded slightly. You were so happy he let you tell the guys.
“And now,” said Kurama, “it’s time to tell someone else.”
…
“I’m going to be a grandmother!”
The second person you told, after Kurama's friends, was his mother, Shiori. She seemed almost as happy as you and Kurama were. After giving you both huge hugs, she started talking about how she’d be willing to babysit any time you wanted, and that she would host a baby shower, and she would buy enough outfits to last the baby from its birth until eternity, or at least until it grew out of them. This made you and Kurama even happier—anticipating all the things to come.
“Thanks,” you said, giving her another hug. “I might have the best mother-in-law, but this baby will have the best grandma.”
“I’ll go make some tea,” she said happily, leaving you in the living room of her home. “Congratulations again, Shuichi and (Your Name).”
“I can see why you and your mom get along so well,” you said. “She’s an absolute angel.”
“Yes, I quite agree.” Kurama looked even better than usual; his face was shining with a joy you hadn’t seen in eight months. “She taught me what love truly is.”
“That’s so sweet,” you said, your heart melting. “By the way, I’ve been thinking…we’re not a couple anymore, are we?”
“Nope,” said Kurama, grinning broader than ever. “Now, we’re a family.”
TO BE CONTINUED...

Description
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As you tore the pregnancy test open with shaking fingers, you wondered what the point was anymore. It was no exaggeration that your husband of one year, Kurama, called this “the ultimate torture.” You would never wish it on any woman. Those horrible girls who fought you for Shuichi back in your senior year of high school? No. Your (least favorite subject) teacher, whose goal in life was to make you miserable? Nuh-uh. The “mean girl” who dunked your head in a toilet and ruined not only your hair but your favorite sweater as well? Nope, not even her.
Probably, then, you got your hands and the floor all wet for nothing. You’d have to clean that up before Kurama got home. You usually didn’t even have to take a test, because you’d get your period around the same time each month, and that would be the final say. Nature’s pregnancy test, you called it. But you weren’t sure, this month, if it was supposed to come this week or the next, and you had cleverly convinced Kurama's friends to invite him for a slumber party at Kuwabara’s house, and bought the pregnancy test at the drugstore after he left. You made sure he never saw it.

Why? Because you were sick of the way your little house had felt like a morgue for the past eight months—eight months, you thought as tears stung your eyes, that you could have been pregnant. You were sick of the way Kurama's beautiful green eyes, which once lit up when they saw you, now conveyed such misery. And around this time of the month, it was pretty awful to have to walk up to him and tell him you’d failed…again. It was becoming a pattern. Worst of all, you two couldn’t tell anyone, because disappointing yourselves was bad enough. If you were to try to tell either of your families or friends, it would set them up for disappointment, too. The burden was very heavy when only two people carried it. And however Kurama was taking it, you knew it was devastating for you. It made you feel like less of a woman. It wasn't true, but that was what it felt like.
So this time, you weren’t going to tell him at all. You didn’t want to walk around the house all day with him pitying you. How would he ever know? It was difficult to outwit Kurama, and come to think of it, you never had, but this time your plan was foolproof.
Well, no point in putting it off. You were already crying, you realized, as you dipped the pregnancy test into your specimen cup for a little bit, then pulled it out again. Those few minutes, you had to wait, and you decided to spend it cleaning up the bathroom, tears blurring your eyes, as you imagined the rest of your day. But that was when you heard a knock on the door.
“(Your Name)?” It was Kurama!
“Don’t come in!” you blurted out, hoping he wouldn’t hear your stuffy nose.
“I’ll be in the living room if you need me, then.” Receding footsteps told you the redheaded beauty was leaving you to yourself, but why was he home so early? Getting him out of the way was the whole reason you suggested the slumber party.
After the floor was clean again, the bathroom clock told you that it was time to see the results of your test. There was that familiar yet unpleasant lurching feeling inside you.
But when you looked at the test, that feeling was replaced by some sort of explosion. Two lines? Really?! You dropped the test onto the floor like it was scalding hot, but it landed so that you could still see the result. And you just stared. It was there. That wasn’t what you’d been expecting; if you were, it was just a tiny glimmer of hope that was fizzling out.
Now…your breathing was tight and shaky. Your heart was beating out of your chest. Your head was spinning. Before you knew it, you were bawling hysterically, like you were in some kind of delirium. Was this really happening? All your efforts, Kurama telling you to “have patience,” eating weird health foods and vitamins—it had all finally paid off? It must have. False negatives were quite common, you knew, but false positives were almost nonexistent.
ou pitched the test into the wastebasket and collapsed backwards onto the toilet seat, still crying like a baby, but also laughing like a maniac. What was wrong with you, anyway? Why were you crying? Wasn’t this supposed to be a happy moment? And it was, but you couldn’t stop crying. You were having a baby, all right. And not just any baby. Kurama's baby.
“(Your Name)!”
Kurama was knocking again, pounding, actually. It sounded like he was worried about your sanity. Well, you couldn’t exactly blame him. You were worried about your sanity, too. You couldn’t even feel your legs in their (favorite color) pajama pants.
“Please come out,” said Kurama. “I just want to talk to you.”
As your husband spoke, you felt your muscles beginning to relax. His voice was so soothing, like a lullaby. Your crying slowly stopped as you pictured him in your mind.
“Okay.” Your voice was like a kitten’s mew as you finally got up and unlocked the door.
“(Your Name)?” Kurama said it like a question; you heard the concern in his voice as he placed both hands on your upper arms. They felt kind of tense.
“Kurama,” you said back, and before you knew it you had pressed your body into his lanky form, your head and hands leaning onto his chest. His strong arms wrapped you into a hug, and you were crying again.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shock you.” Kurama patted your back comfortingly as you just melted into his voice. He had a face for television, but a voice for radio. “I know I’m early.”
You stared up at him, your (eye color) eyes filled with tears. “Didn’t you have fun at the slumber party?”
“Of course, but I had more important matters to attend to,” he said, gently releasing you from his arms. “Would you like to tell me what it is you are trying to hide from me?”
You blinked, surprised. Bending down slightly, he touched his hand to your shoulder and you met his penetrating gaze. Just looking up into those gorgeous green eyes had always made you feel weak in the knees. The expression on his face was one of utmost kindness and love, all for you.
“(Your Name), am I going to be a father or not?”
Kurama smiled softly, and you knew he’d already guessed the answer to that one, too, but he was letting you tell him. Just the thought made you erupt in laughter.
“Yes!” you cried, jumping up and throwing your arms around his neck. “Oh, Kurama!”
This time, you were laughing without crying, and so was he. You hugged him again, drinking in the delicious scent of roses all around you, then looked up into Kurama's beautiful face. His expression was one he saved for very, very few people—pure love and caring. His vivid emerald gaze softened; his smile widened slightly; and before you knew it, you stood up on your toes, he bent down, and his lips met your own. Kurama moved his hands down the sides of your body, pausing to press tenderly at the edges of your breasts, then continuing all the way down to rest on your hips. You kept one hand up on his sturdy shoulder, the other toying with his voluminous crimson hair, soft to the touch.
The two of you walked into the living room where you had the TV, some couches, and some other pieces of furniture, and Kurama helped you onto the couch like the gentleman he was.
“I never thought this day would come,” you told him, sighing blissfully, then turning your head lazily to look up at him. “But how on Earth did you figure it out?”
“Well, if you want to know the truth, I’ve recently had the feeling you were pregnant—”
“You knew?!” you shrieked, picking up a pillow and lobbing it at him.
“Please, (Your Name), I had enough pillow-fighting last night at the slumber party,” Kurama replied, catching the pillow deftly in one hand. “And I did have my suspicions, yes.”
“W-Why didn’t you tell me?” you spluttered, furious.
“Well, why didn’t you tell me, (Your Name)?” Kurama said calmly.
“Because…because if I failed the test, you would have been sad all day.”
“Right,” said Kurama. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed if I turned out to be mistaken.”
“You rarely turn out to be mistaken, Kurama,” you told him fondly. “But anyway, this is crazy. I didn’t feel it at all, and I’m the one having the baby. So how did you guess?"
“Just a little inductive reasoning over the past week or so,” he replied. Seeing your confused look, he added, “I mean to say, I wondered if I was imagining it all, since you were late—”
“B-b-but that could be for any number of reasons!” You were starting to feel a bit of a blush in your cheeks. He had actually memorized your period schedule?
“So I hadn’t dared to hope.” Kurama smiled and pressed his fingertips onto your face; his surprisingly cool touch felt good on the heat. “But it’s more than that. We’ve spent a lot of time together in the past three years, you know, and even more since we’ve been married. Your demeanor, your mannerisms, your habits…It was all a little different. So I wondered.
“And then, on the exact day that would have been perfect to take the test,” he continued, “you claimed Kuwabara wanted me and the others to have a sleepover at his house. But I knew what that nervous and sad look meant, and I knew it was all your idea. I went to the sleepover because my friends wanted me to go, but I snuck out while they all were sleeping, because I knew I could have a slumber party with my friends any time…”
Kurama paused, then, taking your chin gently in his hands so that the light landed squarely in your eyes. Your heart began to pound.
“But something like this only happens once in a lifetime.”
“Oh, Kurama,” you said. “These past eight months have felt like a lifetime. But I can’t believe what a dumb plan that was.”
“Nonsense,” Kurama said with a grin. “My friends and I haven’t had that much fun together, just the four of us, for awhile now. I get to have a good night with them, and a wonderful morning with you.”
“How was it, anyway?” you asked him. “What did you guys do?”
“Just normal, moronic things you do on a sleepover,” Kurama replied. “Truth or Dare, eating raw cookie dough, scavenger hunts, dirty movies…We had a cupcake bar, although Yusuke ate way too many of them. And like I said, we got into a massive pillow fight around one in the morning.”
“And how did that go?” you giggled.
“When I’m on the offense, Hiei is quite good at dodging my blows.” Kurama looked like he was trying not to laugh, too. “But we had to go to sleep once Kuwabara accidentally sliced a pillow in half and Yusuke came down off his sugar high.”
“So the pillow fight was all Yusuke’s idea, huh?”
“Exactly.”
You two had started to kiss again when the phone rang.
“I think you’d better get that,” you told Kurama, pulling away. “It’s probably the guys, wondering where you are.”
Sure enough, it was. The two of you had a two-way communication device that let you see who you were talking to with a camera, so Kurama got up off the couch and answered with that. The two of you were greeted by Yusuke and Kuwabara, both of whom looked furious.
“Hey! Kurama!” shouted Yusuke. His hair was messy, the bangs hanging in his eyes, and he was wearing a T-shirt and pajama pants, like Kuwabara. The living room, you could see, was a mess, and it looked as if more than a few pillows had given their lives for the night. “You’d better have a damn good reason for ditching us this morning!”
“We had lots of fun stuff planned!” added Kuwabara.
“I’m sure Kurama would love to defeat you in more pillow fights,” said Hiei scathingly, turning the camera onto himself. “But he has more important things to do.”
“You are correct, Hiei.” Kurama's voice remained calm, but there was a look of total amusement on his face. He was standing with his feet together, one hand in his pocket, hips leaning forward just a little bit. It was a casual, yet authoritative pose, and you liked it a lot. You were also giggling again, because even though you had been romantically involved with Kurama for three years, this was the first time you’d seen Hiei in just his shorts.
“Nice black silk, Hiei,” you teased him. “You know, I always thought you were more of a tighty-whities kind of guy.”
Hiei cast you a withering glare, then turned the camera back to Yusuke and Kuwabara.
“Well, Kurama?” Yusuke demanded. “You can’t miss our popcorn breakfast!”
“Just as Hiei stated, I had important business here today,” said Kurama.
“Why do I have the feeling it’s got something to do with (Your Name)?” Hiei asked, poking his spiky black head back into the camera’s view.
“Because it has,” you said gleefully. You couldn’t keep it in anymore; you felt like a public fountain that had been filled with a bottle of bubble bath. Your giggles just kept coming, rising out of you, then coming right back for another round. “I’m pregnant!”
“What?!” cried the other three, and you remembered they didn’t even know you’d been trying. Kuwabara dropped the popcorn he’d been shoving into his mouth; Yusuke choked on a leftover cupcake, and Hiei had to pound him on the back.
“Yes,” said Kurama with a smile. “While you three were all sleeping off the popcorn and cupcakes, (Your Name) revealed that, in several months, she will give someone the gift of life.”
The gift of life! That sounded much better than, “I’m knocked up.” You beamed at your Kurama; he smiled back and nodded slightly. You were so happy he let you tell the guys.
“And now,” said Kurama, “it’s time to tell someone else.”
…
“I’m going to be a grandmother!”
The second person you told, after Kurama's friends, was his mother, Shiori. She seemed almost as happy as you and Kurama were. After giving you both huge hugs, she started talking about how she’d be willing to babysit any time you wanted, and that she would host a baby shower, and she would buy enough outfits to last the baby from its birth until eternity, or at least until it grew out of them. This made you and Kurama even happier—anticipating all the things to come.
“Thanks,” you said, giving her another hug. “I might have the best mother-in-law, but this baby will have the best grandma.”
“I’ll go make some tea,” she said happily, leaving you in the living room of her home. “Congratulations again, Shuichi and (Your Name).”
“I can see why you and your mom get along so well,” you said. “She’s an absolute angel.”
“Yes, I quite agree.” Kurama looked even better than usual; his face was shining with a joy you hadn’t seen in eight months. “She taught me what love truly is.”
“That’s so sweet,” you said, your heart melting. “By the way, I’ve been thinking…we’re not a couple anymore, are we?”
“Nope,” said Kurama, grinning broader than ever. “Now, we’re a family.”
TO BE CONTINUED...