The beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

chapter one

This story is part of a long and very cool game by Tenshi no Korin(who let me graciously borrow some of the plots and characters from some of her stories that she threw in...^_^), Tas(who owns all rights and said personage of Kalerin) and Toma-chan(who gets to own Shoji-chan and her part of the game ^_^) All characters of YuYu Hakusho are owned by Togashi-sama, who should be worshiped in his own right for these cool characters :) One more piece of info: it's set in the year 2082...

The young man looked around the station as he stepped off the train. His turquoise eyes took in the many people and traffic in the bustling city as they rushed everywhere in the morning hours. "Great, now what?" He thought as he glanced about again, thinking of how much he wanted to be back at his home in the forestlands of Hokkaido, with his family and his friends, few though they may be. He brushed back some of the pale-green tipped light purple hair that always managed to fall in his face, and caught something familiar - his name, "Shoji Sanada" written on a piece of paper held by a somewhat older looking man in his almost mid twenties with long black hair tied in a pony tail that just about reached his waist and brown eyes. On his face was a sullen expression, looking almost as if he didn't want to be here.

With somewhat of a surprised and almost afraid look on his face, Shoji approached him, "Konnichiwa, I'm.. I'm Shoji... I think you're the one I'm waiting for?"

The man blinked, and studied him for a moment, "Yeah, you look young enough to be him. Come on, I'll take you to where we're to meet some others." He turned, and started to walk out of the station, Shoji following apprehensively. Once outside the station, he found himself standing near a limo, with the door held by the man. "This is our transportation to your new quarters..." One of his eyebrows rose as he saw Shoji's shocked face. "If this isn't good enough, we can always get a better one--"

Shoji shook his head rapidly, "No- No... this is good, I mean, I'm sorry..." This was all happening so fast, this wasn't what he had expected when he had gotten home from school the day before and found a message from his uncle, who had wanted him to meet someone in Tokyo. He'd leapt at the chance, it meant that he could get away from what would have been expected of him now that he had vacation from school. He blinked out of the memory and noticed the man watching him carefully. Thinking that he was giving a bad view of himself, Shoji quickly got into the limo, and the man followed. Leaning forward, his companion gave the driver the name of the place to take them, "Tokyo Grand Plaza Hotel, please," then sat heavily into the seat as if he'd been standing all week. He closed his eyes as he laid his head back.

Shoji sat, clutching his backpack, he wasn't sure of what to do or even if the guy was going to yell at him. He jumped as the man said, "Feel free to get anything to eat or drink out of the cooler or to open a window, though I'm not sure you'd want to around here." He turned to Shoji, and he smiled slightly, his face losing some of its hardness, "I'm sorry about how I seemed earlier, I've... " he paused for a moment, "had a very bad week..." He shrugged, "I hope I wasn't being weird or anything." He pulled a soda out of the cooler, and opened it, "By the way, my name is Yusuke Urameshi, and I hope everything goes all right for you here."

Shoji merely nodded, not really relaxing. He cautiously opened the fridge, and stared at everything inside as if he'd never seen it before, in fact, some of the objects he'd never seen at all. It was a minute before he felt comfortable enough to take something and open it. He glanced furtively at the.. Yusuke, he amended, and saw that he had his eyes closed and appeared to be asleep. Shoji sighed, and leaned back on his side of the seat, remembering more of what his uncle had said on the phone.

"Think of this as a training exercise, like how I taught you all these years. This is like going out on one of them, except that I will not be there, and neither will your cousin Jonathon. Just remember to use all the skills I taught you, like the ninjitsu and your... other skill..."

'Other skill', Shoji thought, 'nice evasive way to refer to me as a Kitsune...' Going back in his mind, he remembered the wild, stormy night, of going to sleep early feeling unusual, then waking up suddenly as the storm abated, only to find himself in his bed but naked and covered with scratches. He'd also had the sense that he'd had fur and four legs, but he had only thought it a dream except for the physical evidence left. The only person he felt he could tell was his uncle who had told him of what he had only thought was legend. 'Kitsune', his uncle had said, were demons, or descended from demons that could change into foxes and have some powers like manipulating things, or even could be psychics, which Shoji wasn't. He wasn't sure of what he could do yet, except that he could see seemingly-humans that were actually other things...

He shook off the shudder as he recalled what he had seen of an old man on one of his tests, and looked around suddenly as the limo came to a stop at a very exquisite and expensive-looking hotel. "Well, here we are.." Yusuke opened his eyes, and looked at Shoji as he stared back in surprise. "Umm... I have to get out on your side, the traffic, you know." He pointed behind his shoulder at the fast moving traffic a mere two feet away.

Shoji nodded, his nervousness showing as he hurriedly opened the door. "Right, I'm sorry, I didn't realize-" He felt a touch on his shoulder and jumped again, looking back at Yusuke as he explained, "Don't worry, I don't blame you. One more thing," and he smiled, "Don't ever apologize for things that arn't your fault. Sometimes you don't plan for your mistakes or others'." His smile darkened for a second, then he nodded and motioned for them to get out, "The others should be ready to meet you by now."

Once inside, Shoji looked aound in wonder, for the splendor of the outside couldn't match the perfection inside. Flowers of every sort framed the white marble columns, and around the benches near each column. Expensive pictures by famous artists like Monet and Van Gogh were hung intermittenly on the walls, which were also made of marble, and there were ponds filled with water lillies and fountains set in various places on the floor. Yusuke walked indifferently past all of this opulence to the front desk, where two women were working at the computers. One snapped to attention as Yusuke and Shoji approached. Yusuke folded his arms and said rudely,"See to it that his room is ready and his luggage placed there too," and the woman nodded as she pulled on her headphone. Shoji blinked at the way Yusuke had ordered her, but it seemed to be the norm here, for the woman had merely gone about her business without so much as a look at them.

Yusuke now led him to a small restaurant that seemed to be hidden, no one else was inside except themselves. Yusuke went behind the counter and pulled out a wine bottle and some snacks. He cocked an eyebrow at the expression Shoji had on his face, and smirked, "Don't worry. I'm... uh... friends with one of the people that own this hotel..." He shrugged, and started to pour himself a glass. "Want any?" He shook the offered bottle to Shoji, who blinked and shook his head, causing some of the hair to fall into his face again, unconsciously he pushed it aside as he looked back at Yusuke. Yusuke set the bottle onto the counter, a little too unsteadily, Shoji noticed absently, as he grabbed it before it shattered. "Well... Help yourself, for it seems like the others have arrived." Shoji turned, and was not prepared for what awaited him.

He first noticed the woman with the long blue hair bound into a pony tail and eager-looking bright pink eyes as she bounced into the room happily. "Hi Yusuke!" she sang, as she turned to them, revealing the other person to be a slight teenager like himself, except that he had long white, almost silver hair and very ice-blue eyes and was wearing a blue tunic and white leggings. He seemed to be lagging behind, almost as if he seemed to not like being inside a place this grand, which was how Shoji certainly felt. Shoji sensed immediately that he was a kitsune too, but there was something different about him.

"About time you got here, Botan." Yusuke had begun to sip the wine and Shoji said nothing, as his wide eyes took in everything. Botan nodded, and pushed the other boy ahead of her. "This is the other one we were waiting for, his name is Kalerin." He looked around somewhat innocently, and waved slightly at Shoji and Yusuke, "Hi..." he said in a hesitent voice.

Yusuke grinned, and pointed at Shoji, who bowed slightly, "This is Shoji. Any word on the others yet?"

"I think they're--" A silver flash entered the room, and zipped several times around them before landing on Kalerin's shoulder, revealing itself to be a silver fox with seven tails. "-here." Botan finished as more people entered. The first was a short person with black spiky hair wearing a white headband and black clothing. Another taller man stepped in after him, his short orange hair strangely curled in the front, he was wearing a jacket and pants. The last to enter made Shoji blink, for he radiated power so much that Shoji almost stepped back, his brown eyes merely glancing at them as he took a seat at the counter. He was wearing a regular business suit, and his brown hair looked neatly combed, but what was so different about him was that he had the letters 'Jr' stamped onto his forehead.

Shoji and Kalerin looked at each other, unsure of what they should do or say. Kalerin spoke first, waving as he had done before, "Hi..." Shoji just blinked. Yusuke pointed to each of the others, introducing them as Hiei, Kuwabara, and the person who was now talking angrily into a cell phone as Koenma. "And... the um... fox who has aleady made Kalerin's acquaintance," for Kalerin was petting the fox now, "is Kurama. He's... well, the reason why you two were brought here."

The short figure that Yusuke had introduced to them as Hiei suddenly disappeared, reappearing at the counter to snatch the bottle that Yusuke was using. He didn't bother to get out a glass, he merely swigged the bottle as Yusuke tried to take it away from him. Shoji now noticed that no matter how much liquid sloshed out or was poured into a glass, the wine level never changed. 'Odd...,' he shook his head, then looked at Koenma as he started to speak, laying his cell phone on the bar.

"Yes, as my... uh, associate says, I have heard about both of you, of course. It's kind of hard not to, in the kind of work I do..." He took out a cigarette and started to smoke it, but as with the wine bottle, the end never seemed to smoke or burn normally like a regular one would. "Anyway, the reason why you both were summoned, is to keep an eye on Kurama, and make sure he dosn't get into trouble."

Shoji blinked, and looked at Kurama, for now he was hearing words in the kitsune language coming from the silver fox, but they sounded ... childish..? '..Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!..' It was obvious Kalerin could hear them too, for he was smiling and greeting the fox back. Kurama then jumped from Kalerin's shoulder, ran around the room some more, and suddenly landed on Hiei's head. '..Hi Hiei! Can I have some?..' Now Hiei was quicky downing the bottle as quickly as it was reappearing inside.

"No!" He snapped shortly, and tried to glare up at the fox peering down at him. "You don't need any." He put the bottle down, and Yusuke grabbed it again, pouring more into his glass. Kurama looked like he was pouting, but then ran around the room again, landing for a second on Shoji's shoulders, startling him, before appearing on Kalerin's shoulder again. '..I'm Kurama!..' he preened himself, and tried to look important.

Koenma swallowed, and tried to grab at the bottle Yusuke held, but Yusuke wouldn't let him have it. "I don't care if you are the Junior Lord of the Dead, but I won't let you drink anything, it's enough that you have that cigarette, even if nothing happens to you." He wrenched the bottle away from Koenma, and put it away.

Shoji was in shock. 'Junior Lord of the Dead??' How.. How was this possible? He looked at Yusuke, then Koenma, who shrugged, "You were bound to find out anyway." Koenma then straightened his jacket, looking as if he was going to give a speech. Indeed, he began, "You both were chosen because of your unique abilities and adaptability in situations. Shoji here was born and raised as a human in the forest of Wakinara on the island of Hokkaido, and Kalerin was born a fox and raised at a temple..." Koenma droned on about each of them, but Shoji didn't pay any attention to the rest as his mind struck on something. Kalerin was born as a fox?? He didn't think that was possible. His uncle couldn't even tell him much about it, just mentioned a vague sentence that at the time hadn't made sense. From what he could figure out, Kalerin couldn't know much of the 'real world'. Then again, neither did Shoji, sure, he'd went to school and everything, but it wasn't anything like what he'd noticed on the drive into Tokyo. He stole a glance at Kalerin, and it appeared his reasoning was correct, he was watching everything with a sense of wonder, as if everything new to him fascinated him. He sighed, and looked at Koenma as he continued, "-- and now the current situation is that we need someone to look after Kurama, and keep him occupied..."

Shoji and Kalerin looked at each other again, Shoji wondering if he was thinking the same thing. 'Fox-sitting? That's all we were sent here to do?' Koenma watched each of them, "I imagine that's not what you thought you were coming to Tokyo for, but we really need someone we could trust, and several people recommended you both. What had happened was," and he looked a little self-concious as he tugged on his collar, "well, there were unforseen ramifications... There was this demon, and we had to get this artifact from him, and when we did get it, it... it went a little out of control... Kurama isn't usually like this, he's a little more... grown-up..."

Yusuke muttered something unintelligible into his glass, and Koenma gave him a glare that could have broken the bar mirror. "Anyway, we're going to look for an artifact or something that will change him back, while you two and Hiei" He looked at the fire demon(which was what Koenma had called him, Shoji remembered), who was now scowling at him, "will look after Kurama."

"We?" Hiei said in a low angry voice, and would have said more, but Kurama gave a little yip and jumped to land on his head. '..I get to stay with Hiei today!..' The little fox looked like he was pouting again, as he thought, '..Won't you, Hiei?..'

The small fire demon removed him from his hair, and glowered at him for a moment. He looked at the wine glass Yusuke was now finishing, as if he could sneak it away, then blinked, his steady gaze returning to the fox. '..Please..' the fox actually made puppy dog eyes at him. "Fine," Hiei grumbled in a low voice. Kurama yipped again, and jumped back onto Hiei's head, laying down on his spiky black hair with his four legs and seven tails dangling, one in particular right between his small red eyes. Yusuke was sputtering, and Hiei now gave him the dangerous 'I-will-kill-you-slowly-if-you-say-anything' look, but said nothing. Yusuke said it anyway, "Nice hat you've got there, Hiei..."

Kuwabara smirked, but made no noise. Hiei glared more, but didn't move, for now it appeared that Kurama had fallen asleep. Shoji blinked and yawned, for it seemed like he had spent all day awake. He looked over at Yusuke uncertainly, and caught the other watching him, as if he were daydreaming. Yusuke shook himself, and tried to drink more wine, but it appeared the glass was now empty. "Koenma, can we bring them to their rooms now? I need some rest before we go find out what we can."

Koenma nodded, and waved with his hand. "Come with me," he said to Shoji, Kalerin, and Hiei. "I'll show you where you'll be staying, and what your directions will be. " He walked out of the room, and everyone followed him.

******

As they rode up the glass elevator, which Kalerin stared out of at the city, Koenma gave them plastic keys. Shoji looked at his, it didn't seem to be a regular hotel key. It had his name printed on it, and it seemed to shimmer slightly like a pearl. The elevator stopped on the top floor, and they found themselves in a hallway with several ornate doors set among very intricate carved walls. They walked towards one of the larger sets of wooden doors where Koenma slipped a key into a slot, and one of them swung into the room. The others walked in, but Shoji couldn't move for a second as he looked inside. This room was bigger than his house! He was going to be staying here?? He turned shocked eyes towards Yusuke and Koenma.

Koenma nodded, as if understanding his unspoken question. "These are your new quarters, we have separate bedrooms for each of you, as well as this general room which has an eating space with a fridge, a television" which Kalerin stared curiously at it, for it was the flat slab tv hanging on the wall, "and a video game other there." He pointed to a corner, where a separate tv was hanging, with a Playstation(TM ^_^) plugged into it. Kuwabara headed over there and studied the games. "Cool, I've never played this game!" He turned it on, and started to play, cursing at the game almost as soon as he began.

Hiei looked at Kuwabara with a 'What-an-idiot' look, but all he said was "Hn". He stalked over to the couch, took the sleeping Kurama off his head to place him by the other end of the couch, and laid down, immediately closing his eyes. Kurama shook himself sleepily, and walked over to lay on Hiei's face. Without opening his eyes, Hiei picked up Kurama and set him by his knee. Kurama gave a little sigh, and settled there, but something in his eyes said he would not stay there for long.

Koenma said nothing, but waved his hand at the doors on the other side of the room, "And these are your rooms." Shoji and Kalerin didn't move, even though now each could see their names printed on slips of paper stuck into the slits on each of the doors. "I'll leave you both alone to settle down, I also have work I must finish..." He left them to head over to a chair away from Hiei and took out a laptop computer.

Shoji stared at the door as if afraid the room could be filled with the figments of his nightmares. Kalerin opened his, and rushed inside, exclaiming at how cool everything was and how everything of his was there. After watching him for several moments, Shoji shrugged and opened his. He found he was in a nice bedroom, with light purple walls and a plush carpet of the same color. There was a king size bed, loaded with black and blue blankets and pillows, with a small table near the head of the bed. The desk was a standard one a student might use, plus several chairs and bookshelves placed aound the room. His luggage was stacked carefully near the foot of the bed, and after studying this room for several moments, he found that he liked this room, even if it was bigger then his own little room at home. He had gone to his suitcases and already opened one up, when a knock turned his attention to the slightly opened door.

Yusuke was standing there, arms folded as he looked around. "Nice room, ain't it?"

Shoji nodded, "Yeah.. Yeah, it's really cool. It's almost like how my room is at home..." He looked around, then at Yusuke again, " I'm sorry about your friend. I hope he.. gets better soon."

Yusuke sighed, "Thanks, that's one of the problems we're working on, and I appreciate that you will help us out in this." He looked like he was going to say something else, but shook his head, "Well, I have to, um.. go talk to Koenma about this situation. I'll see you later, ok?" He waved and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Shoji looked at his belongings and decided that they could wait a while longer, as he could now hear Kalerin's door closing. Deciding that he wanted to get to know his new companion better, he changed clothes and walked outside into the main room. He found Yusuke talking to Koenma and Kuwabara. Hiei was still stretched out on the couch, with Kurama now curled up on his face. Even as he watched, Hiei took Kurama off his face again and now set him on his chest. Shoji heard a muffled whimper, then all was quiet as he glanced around. Kalerin was looking out at the city through the window, and also down at the park far below just across the street from the hotel. Shoji sat next to him, and looked out as well. After a while, Kalerin glanced at him. "Hi..." he said again, and pointed out towards the city, "Isn't that cool? It's so pretty!"

Shoji nodded, not used to such sights himself, and smiled slightly, "We don't have the tall buildings where I came from. Was it the same... for you?"

Kalerin shrugged, "I came from a temple in the woods, someone found me and took care of me there." He didn't say much more, as a plane flying overhead caught his attention.

Shoji thought of something, "There's a few things I want to go try find, as long as I'm here in Tokyo. Do you want to come with me and shop?"

Kalerin thought for a moment, as he watched the plane disappear. "Ok," he said finally, and smiled slightly. "I want to see more of the city." Shoji nodded, and went into his room to get his money and a jacket out of his suitcase. When he came out, Kalerin was waiting for him at the door, already wearing a pair of jeans and a blue jacket, but he didn't look like he fit in them as he tugged on the collar of his shirt.

"Ready to go?" Shoji asked, and Kalerin nodded eagerly. As they opened the door, Koenma's voice called their names. They turned to find him walking towards them, holding something in his hand. "I'm sorry, these are for you both. They are, I hope, some compensation for the trouble for you traveling here from your homes." He gave them each a plastic card, and continued, "They each have several thousand credits on them, so I trust that will probley be all right for today? All right, you both have your hotel keys too, right?" Shoji and Kalerin held up their keys, and it appeared Koenma was satisfied. "See you later," he merely said, and walked back to his conference with the other two. Yusuke waved to Shoji before he started to talk again, but Shoji didn't notice, as he was staring at his card Koenma had given him. It shimmered like the hotel key, and had his name printed on it, as well as the words 'Bank of Greater Tokyo'. He heard Kalerin laugh slightly, and turned to see him beaming proudly as he said, "I know what this is, it's plastic money!" Shoji only nodded, still somewhat in a state of shock. Kalerin pulled on his arm, "Can we go now?" Shoji nodded again, and they left.

The sidewalks were filled with people, as cars whizzed by on the highway. Shoji and Kalerin visited just about every shop they came across, because Kalerin wanted to see what was inside each one of them. Shoji didn't mind, he liked to see people having fun, and also he didn't think he could have found some things if it hadn't been for his companion. He smiled now as Kalerin bounded up, holding some more bags. "See, I found some cool things! This one is so cool cause it's so shiny!" He held up a clear marble that had colors streaked through it.

Shoji picked it up, and examined it. "Yeah, I agree, it does look cool. Ready to go to the next shop?" Kalerin nodded quickly, and picked up his bags, he had about fifteen bags now, compared to Shoji's four. Shoji offered to take some to help Kalerin, and he passed some of the bags over to Shoji. They were about to walk on, when Shoji blinked, feeling like someone was watching him. He turned to see Yusuke and Botan studying the contents of a donut store a block away. Feeling like they had been intentionally watching them, he decided to walk over and talk to them.

As he and Kalerin got closer, he could hear Yusuke say, "- and look at those sprinkles, Botan, arn't they so ... colorful?" Botan shook her head, "Yusuke, I don't think they buy it..." She smiled slightly, "I hope you don't mind, we were just watching you to ah... make sure you didn't run out of credits." Yusuke tapped her on the shoulder, "You know, you're still a horrible liar..." She looked about ready to start to argue with him, when someone opened the door to the store, and Kalerin got a whiff of the interior. He rushed inside, leaving everyone outside with a bewildered look. "I guess we go inside then?" Shoji inquired, and Yusuke only nodded.

Botan, Yusuke, and Shoji entered the store to find Kalerin pointing at the pastries as the clerk wrapped them in papers. "Never had donuts before?" Yusuke asked as they neared, and Kalerin turned, already biting into one. He shook his head, and paid for his purchase. Shoji bought a chocolate-filled croissant and some juice, while Botan and Yusuke had coffee. They sat down near Kalerin, who was now licking the sugar off of his fingers. "These are so good!" He picked up another, and started on it too. Shoji sighed, and looked at Yusuke, "You were following us, I'm sure of it. Was it because you thought we were going to bolt and go home?"

"Huh?" Yusuke looked very startled, and apparently a little hurt at the question. "Go home? No, we were only watching you, you know, two newcomers, big city, lots of oppertunities for mugging and everything. I mean, we stopped a few people from looking at you greedily, that sort of thing..." He stopped and sipped some of his coffee. Botan nodded, smiling cheerily, as she added, "Yeah, there are plenty of people that would be very angry if something happened to either of you." Shoji blinked, and smiled slightly, "Yeah... I'm sorry. I should have realized that..." He ate some of his croissant, and licked the chocolate from his fingers, not seeing that Yusuke was watching him intently. His cup dropped unnoticed from his hands and spilled on the table, causing Botan to shriek as the coffee dripped towards her. "Oh, Ch'Kuso! Where are the napkins?" Yusuke looked around, and grabbed some of the ones that Kalerin had used for his donuts.

After they had cleaned up the mess, aided by the clerk, and Yusuke had bought some more donuts to repay Kalerin for spoiling his with the coffee, they left the store. Outside, Yusuke told them that they were invited to have dinner with everyone at one of the ball rooms at the hotel. "We would have had it at the Grand Ballroom, but it suffered a little mishap," which Shoji know knew him enough now to mean that it had probley exploded or something close to it. Botan and Yusuke waved as they left, "We have to go check on something, will you two be all right getting back to the hotel?" Shoji and Kalerin nodded at the same time, for they were now only two blocks away from the hotel. "See you tonight..." Shoji called to the departing pair as he and Kalerin headed back to the hotel.

"So what do you think of everything, Kalerin?" Shoji asked as they rode the elevator up to their rooms. "What? Oh, I had fun..." Kalerin answered distantly as he looked out at the city again. Shoji smiled again, and picked up their bags as the doors of the elevator opened. They went inside, and surveyed the room as they put down the bags on one of the chairs. Koenma was now working furiously on his laptop, muttering as he typed rapidly. A faint ringing interrupted him, and he pulled out the cell phone to talk to whoever had called him. Hiei had apparently given up on moving Kurama, for the silver fox was again curled up sleeping on his face again. Kuwabara was back to playing the game, but wasn't saying anything like he had been before, as a bruise now showed on his neck, in the shape of the book that was still lying on the floor behind him. Kalerin picked up his bags and went into his room, as did Shoji.

He looked at his pile of luggage, and decided that he might as well unpack, since it appeared he would be staying here a little longer then he planned. After putting things where he thought they belonged, he took a shower and ate a snack he had brought along from his shopping trip. He then pulled out a book that his teacher had given for homework, and flopped down on the bed to read. After a while, he fell asleep, the book falling off the bed. As he slept, Shoji didn't see the book stop in mid-air, and float over to land on the small table near his bed.

******

The opening of the door later on woke him, as he heard someone saying something quietly outside. He felt something small land on the bed, and looked up to see Kurama watching him, only a few inches from his face. :..Hi! I wanted to wake you up..: came the thought, and Shoji smiled, even as he thought 'Poor Kurama, I hope the others get you back to normal soon...' Aloud he said, "Well, you did, so the credit goes to you." He smiled and stretched, trying not to knock the fox off of his chest. He didn't think he was good at it, since he hadn't had much practice, but he decided to speak in the kitsune language, :..Anything happening?..:

Kurama blinked, as if this was something he wasn't expecting, :..Oh, so you can Speak too!..: Shoji felt a wet tongue lick his cheek, clearly Kurama was excited. :..I'm gonna tell Hiei!..: Kurama darted out of the room, and Shoji smiled as he got out of bed. He looked around for the book, and noticed that it was on the table. 'Huh, don't remember putting it there...' He shrugged, and changed his shirt, as it was somewhat wrinkled from being slept in. Going out into the general room, he noticed that he, Kalerin and Hiei(with Kurama bouncing happily around him) were the only ones there. Shoji sat near Kalerin, who was watching the television intently, occaisionally flipping channels. "Have a nice nap?" Kalerin grinned at him. "This is so cool! We didn't have anything like this at the temple."

Shoji nodded, and looked over at Hiei, who was now glaring at the silver fox running in circles, trying to catch one of his tails. "Hiei," he began, almost sounding a little hesitent, remembering the looks that the small fire demon had given the others, "Yusuke mentioned something about a dinner tonight, how soon is that?"

Hiei didn't respond, he still was staring at Kurama. Shoji didn't think Hiei would tell him, until the quiet voice answered him, "It's in an hour." Shoji didn't see Hiei move, one minute he was watching the fox. Now he had grabbed Kurama by his tails and was holding him up. "I've told you before, you are not supposed to do that." He shook his head, "Stupid fox..."

Kurama responded by placing his front paws on Hiei's shoulders, and began to lick his face. Kalerin and Shoji covered their smiles as the demon began to protest, but didn't put Kurama down.

The hour passed swiftly, and before they knew it, it was time to meet the others at the ballroom. The ballroom wasn't big, maybe enough to fit twenty people. The meal was a nice one, Shoji hadn't seen most of what was offered before, so he selected small portions from the big plates with his chopsticks to try different foods. Sitting down between Kalerin and Kuwabara, he noticed that Yusuke was in front of him, with Botan and Koenma next to him. Hiei was supposed to be sitting next to Kalerin, but now he was watching angrily as Kurama darted everywhere with one of Hiei's chopsticks in his mouth.

Shoji shrugged, knowing that Kurama thought this was a game, and that the others had been coping with his 'change'. He felt sorry for them, he knew what it was like to deal with a young child. Koenma filled them in as to what he had found out, and called for Kurama to come to him. After a few minutes, in which Koenma was visibly gettting angry as Kurama refused to listen to him, the fox finally approached him. "Now, since we will be leaving tomorrow, I have something that will hopefully help you with Kurama." He took out a collar, and as Hiei held the struggling fox, snapped it around his neck. "It will help you to keep track of him, so he can't go too far from you." He also clapped his hands, and several of the hotel staff entered the room. Shoji noticed with his power that all had horns. He didn't have time to dwell on this, as the servants gave a long, thin package to him, and the other one went to Kalerin, who immediately unwrapped it to find it a golden piece of wood, which as Botan told him what it could do, extended in his hands to form a sturdy staff.

Shoji unwrapped his, and found an exquisite kodachi, sheathed in a black soya surmounted by leaping foxes. "Your kodachi will never rust or break, and it will aid in your powers of true sight," Botan said, her pink eyes twinkling. "There's also this for you too, to help conceal your new sword." She picked up a bundle of clothing and gave it to him, shaking it out to reveal a black trench coat. Explaining that it could hide anything that Shoji wore, she demonstrated by putting the sword into one of the pockets, which looked impossible since the pockets were only four inches down, but true enough, the sword disappeared. Shoji stared in disbelief, and Botan pulled out the sword again. "Here you go," she smiled as she handed him both the coat and the sword.

Shoji looked at the coat, bewildered, and thought of everything that they had given him. 'Why??' was his only thought. He sat down in his seat, putting on the coat absent-mindedly, and began to eat as his thoughts raced. He was dimly aware of Botan chiding Yusuke, telling him that wasn't eighteen times enough to dip a piece of bread? Yusuke had been staring at him, Shoji realized, was something happening? Had he done something wrong?

As he finished his meal, the others drifted out, with Koenma telling them that he was going to be there early to wake the people going with him to find a cure for Kurama. Only Kalerin, Yusuke, and Shoji were left in the dining room. Once Shoji was finished, he got up and walked over to Kalerin and Yusuke, who were waiting patiently for him. "So what's going on now?" Shoji managed to keep his earlier anxiety from creeping into his voice.

Yusuke shrugged. "Well, you can do what you want. I mean, you don't have to go with us in the morning, so you can go see a movie, or take a walk, or just go up to your room."

Kalerin yawned, and decided to go back, since he hadn't gotten much sleep that day like Shoji had. Shoji, meanwhile, wasn't tired at all, and wanted to walk around the hotel some more so he knew where everything was. Yusuke glanced at his watch, and looked at Shoji, "I think I'll go with you. Do you want to see why we couldn't use the Grand Ballroom?" Shoji nodded, not sure of what else to do, and followed Yusuke to a pair of white doors bounded in gold trim. Yusuke opened one of the doors, and waved him inside.

Shoji took one look and stared, stunned. Plants. Plants were everywhere, vines lining the walls, flower bushes ripping out of the floor, even the ceiling lights were draped with daffodils. "Kurama did this, that's his power." Yusuke said quietly, as they went a little more inside. "Koenma made a little mistake in explaining something to Kurama, and ..." Yusuke shrugged. "All I know is that two of his tails started to glow... and this..." He didn't say more, and Shoji couldn't blame him. Shoji turned to go, but Yusuke stopped him with a touch on his shoulder. As Shoji watched curiously, Yusuke carefully walked around the plants to one of the rose bushes, and plucked a red rose in full bloom from one of them. With something Shoji couldn't explain in his large brown eyes, Yusuke handed Shoji the rose.

Shoji blinked at him, uncomprehending as he stared at first Yusuke, then the rose, then at Yusuke again. Yusuke was clearly uncomfortable as he saw Shoji's expression. "Umm.. well... I just thought... that you know..." He sighed, "I think you are very beautiful, and to put it bluntly, if you don't find what I'm saying offensive, I was wondering... Oh, forget it..." He stopped and turned away, obviously not sure of what to say next. Shoji was still staring at him, still clutching the rose in his hand, his thoughts tumbling every which way - 'Yusuke thinks I'm beautiful?' 'He gave me a rose' 'He's not mad at me?' 'Yusuke thinks I'm beautiful?' Then one little calm thought rose out of the wild mess to say 'What's wrong with that?'

"Yusuke..." Shoji finally said, forcing the words out of his still shocked face. "What... do you mean? I don't... find anything ... offensive..."

Yusuke turned, a small blush staining his cheeks. There was a relieved look in his brown eyes, as he watched Shoji. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself... I havn't done that in eighty years," he said in a small voice, and shrugged, clearing his throat. He took a step towards Shoji, who stood where he was, the rose still in his hand. Yusuke took Shoji's hand, and held it in his, kissing the smaller hand as the rose dropped from the boy's fingers. Yusuke picked up the rose, and slipped it into Shoji's purple hair. His hands lingered in the softness of his hair, and then let one hand trail down along Shoji's cheek. Shoji's eyes opened wide as a feeling that he had never experienced made him tremble slightly.

Yusuke stepped closer, and with the same hand now cupped under Shoji's chin, he gazed into the turquiose eyes which now held a little fear, surprise... and anticipation mixed with curiousity, he realized. "Would it bother you..." he fumbled for the words, not sure what to say, "if... if I hugged you?"

Shoji blinked, and shook his head, he couldn't trust himself to say anything. He had never thought of himself as anyone special, even for all of his powers. He'd read of 'things' like this in books, so it was nothing new to him about these kinds of relationships, if that was indeed what was going on now. The thought that it was now happening to him, however, made him shiver as if he were cold. Yusuke put his arms around Shoji, and leaned his face into the younger man's, mumbling, "I...feel somewhat ackward... I... know this must be a bit... of a surprise, but... I think it ... happened when I first saw you..."

Shoji gasped, 'So that was what all that was about', he thought, but couldn't say anything now as Yusuke pressed his lips towards Shoji's. As they kissed, Shoji stiffened, not used to being kissed at all, not by anyone except his parents, and that had only been the 'peck on the cheek' that all parents did. He tried to breathe, it seemed like time was frozen, but yet... there was a sudden thrill, he now sensed. As if this felt... very right.

Something tickled his bottom lip, and he realized Yusuke was licking it, setting little thorns of excitement up his back. He closed his eyes, and let Yusuke kiss him, enjoying the sensations that were coursing through him.

He felt Yusuke stop quickly, breaking the contact of their lips, and opened his eyes to see Yusuke looking over his shoulder at a silver fox running towards them. Shoji blinked in surprise, he had never heard the fox enter, or what he now was screaming at the top of his 'voice' in kitsune, :..TROUBLE! TROUBLE! TROUBLE!..: He thought it was Kurama, except that now he saw only one tail instead of seven. There was only one person, or fox that it could be.

"Kalerin!" Shoji broke free of Yusuke's embrace, and ran towards the fear-filled fox, who stopped and panted for breath. The fox rippled, becoming hazy-- and Kalerin stood there, panic in his eyes and gasping for breath. "There's trouble! Plants everywhere! A shiny thing tried to eat me!"

Yusuke took one look at both of them, and ran off. Shoji helped Kalerin get to the elevator, where Yusuke was tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the doors to open. He turned angry eyes towards Kalerin and Shoji, who realized that the anger was not directed towards him. "Were Kurama and Hiei upstairs that you saw?"

Kalerin shook his head, still breathing fast. "N-no...", he gasped. "I couldn't... open the door.. at first... I did finally ... and I saw plants and vines that grabbed for me... There was this shiny hole-thing in the floor... and the vines were trying to get me... into it..." Shoji looked at Yusuke, trying to ignore the small feelings that were casting some of his thoughts to go astray. "What... What could it be?"

A small bell broke the slience, and the doors opened. "Finally!" Yusuke snarled, and dashed inside the elevator, with Kalerin and Shoji following. Kalerin had caught some of his breath, and had been relaying a few more things that had happened. He'd had to use his staff to get the door open, and that was when the vines had grabbed him. Struggling in vain to get away as the portal, as Yusuke called it, got closer, Kalerin did the only instinctive thing he could - he turned into a fox and ran for help. He didn't say anything else as they got to the top floor where their rooms were. Hurrying into the room, they found the vines shriveling up, and a darkened circle burned into the carpet where Kalerin said the portal had been. Yusuke checked each one of the rooms, as Shoji got something to drink for Kalerin. "No one's here," he said shortly, as he walked towards them. "Hiei and Kurama must have been... taken by whatever or whoever made that hole."

onto the next chapter