Living beyond life (Kurama x OC)

Part 16

"Pft. Blegh. What the....?" May sputters as she wakes in the early morning, sitting up quickly to glare at whatever woke her. She stares the chipmunk that runs around her tent for two more rounds before basically charging at her, using her head as a spring board to launch itself into freedom.

She stares after in confusedly before running a hand over her face, noticing a hair or two sticking at the corner of her mouth. What the heck happened? What did it do?

She grimaces as she plucks the critters' hairs from her mouth. "Gross. It was in my mouth." she gags, turning a glare at Kurama as she spots him leaning out of his tent with his upper body, trying to hold in a laugh.

"This is the last time I forget to leave my tent open." she mutters to herself.

"I don't believe it's your tent you should be worried about." Kurama points out, grinning like a fool as he teases her.

"Shut up." she pouts, making his shoulders shake in laughter.

"Yuck." she huffs as she quickly searches for her toothbrush, determined to cleanse herself of whatever that thing had its filthy paws in.

Kurama soon comes out of hit tent after having gotten dressed to find May still scrubbing her mouth clean hard. Toothpaste is foaming at the corners of her mouth.

"I'm sure it wasn't that filthy, so please calm down before you hurt yourself." he tells her, looking amused as she paces around in her nightclothes. He's sure she stole the band shirt from Yusuke, but the long cotton Hello Kitty pants leave him clueless. It's an odd combination.

She contemplates his words as she states at her toothbrush, wondering if she should put it away or give her teeth and tongue one last scrubbing.

"Fine." she huffs through her full mouth, stalking off to rinse. When she returns, she stumbles, catching Kurama's attention as he started to boil water for tea.

"Huh? How did that get there?" May ask in wonder, having narrowly avoided stepping on the iris he planted there the night before.

"I'm sorry, I had to take it from you last night." Kurama explains, making her look back at him with confusion. "It wasn't treating you very nicely." he adds, making her confusion grow. He looks back at her, seeming to try and read her, processing and anticipating her reaction for the things that will soon be brought to light.

"Not treating me nicely?" she questions.

Kurama rises to his feet, stepping up to her and looking down at the proud flower by their feet. "Indeed. It was feeding on your energy a little too eagerly." he tells her, making her frown at the purple leaved flower.

"Come again? Why would it do that?" she asks him, sounding skeptic.

Kurama turns to her, his expression unreadable. "My life's energy... It seems you have picked up some traits off of me." he explains, watching her look at him blankly before her eyes widen.

"Spiritual awareness." she states, rising a brow. "I already figured." she tells him, resting her hand in her sides.

"That's not quite what I was getting at." Kurama says calmly, or so he appears.

"Then please enlighten me." May urges, sounding a bit exasperated, but he can see a twinge of discomfort in her eyes, perhaps even a hint of fear.

He runs his hand through his hair before reaching for May's hand swiftly, clasping their hands together, fingers curled around each other. May would have blushed if it wasn't for her being able to feel something in between their hands that started to move.

"What are you doing?" she wonders, her eyes big as she stares as their intertwined hands in shock.

"I'm not doing anything." Kurama informs her, watching a small green sprout slip past their hands, reaching up towards the sunlight before quickly developing a bud and starting to bloom into a simple but pretty orange rose. They are silently staring at it for a moment, ignoring the prickling of the thorns.

"You're not being funny." May suddenly speaks up, her voice unsure, her hand twitching nervously.

"I'm not trying to be." Kurama counters, his eyes softening. "I'm sorry May."

She takes a hard intake of breath through her nose and she can feel him clenching on his hand more tightly, the thorns on the rose nearly breaking his skin, but he holds on for her.

"I should have taken Hiei a bit more seriously when he mentioned...this." May mumbles.

"I'm sorry." Kurama repeats. "I wasn't..." Kurama starts, only to be interrupted.

"I know, I know. Stop saying you're sorry. It... it is what it is." May tells him, sounding a bit defeated, finally relenting on her grip. Kurama lets her take her hand back, the rose now laying in his irritated fingers, slowly reverting back to a seed.

"I was going to work with Kuwabara on the use of his spirit energy today... perhaps it's best if you joined." Kurama suggests after another moment of silence.

May's brow furrow and she worries her lip with her teeth for a moment. "What if Koenma finds out? Or worse, King Enma?" she wonders.

"They are less likely to find out if you learn to control it." he points out. May notices he still carries that guilty look in his eyes. She wished he would cut it out with guilt tripping himself, but she learned by now that Kurama is a master at self blame. He just tucks it away very well when not among friends.

May sighs before finally nodding. "I know I've been having trouble laying off on anything concerning Spirit world and all of that, but this wasn't quite what I had in mind when I wished to stay connected somehow." she half joked, to which Kurama only cracks a bitter smile.

"Oh well." she smiles in attempt to lighten the mood. "Do your worst Kurama." she tells him.

"It's the least I can do." he nods, smiling more genuine now.

"What are you two being so loud for this early?" Kuwabara complains suddenly, making them whip their heads at him.

Kurama chuckles, all signs of his guilt disappearing. "Didn't you hear?" he questions, making Kuwabara stare at him questioningly. "May was mauled by a chipmunk." he reveals, making her sigh in relief and glare at him at the same time. She almost thought he would tell Kuwabara about her newfound skills.

"Right. Whatever." Kuwabara grumbles. He's not much of a morning person. "I'll be right out." he yawns, slipping back in his tent.

May suddenly punches Kurama in the arm, making him jump as she caught him off guard. He pouts at her as he rubs his arm.

"Don't give me that." she warns him, stalking back to her tent to get changed as well.

"So fierce." he comments.

"You haven't seen half of it." she shoots back at him.

Kuwabara was a bit surprised when May joined them, but does not oppose. May stuck to the basics that day, careful in not letting slip the reason why she was there.