Shoji just stared at Yusuke, "What?" He turned to look at the black spot in the carpet, its diameter only measuring a foot across. "You mean, they ... are in 'there'?" His kodachi, which he had drawn as soon as they had gotten inside the room, pointed right at the portal. "How?"

Yusuke shrugged, "Portals may be small, but they actually can fit anything inside, even as big as a truck." He turned a dial on his watch, and it bleeped once. Shoji started as Koenma's voice sounded from the watch, "Yusuke! What's happening there?"

In a low tone Yusuke gave him the details on what Kalerin had told them. "And I checked all the rooms, but they're not here."

Koenma appeared to be thinking, since the watch was quiet. Then he spoke again, "Hmmm... I'll be up there as soon as I can. Just wait there, and don't try to go after them."

Yusuke turned off the watch, and looked at his two charges, "Do you think we should go after them?" Kalerin blinked, knowing that Koenma had just told them not to, and Shoji thought for a moment, then he shook his head.

"I think we should wait here, for Koenma and also to see if they come back. I mean, we don't know where they've gone to or what could possibly be waiting for us if we do go there." Kalerin glanced at Shoji and nodded, "Yeah, like bad demons we're not ready to face yet."

"Ok, I'm waiting an hour, and if they arn't back by then, I'm going after them. You can come with me if you want." Yusuke turned away, muttering as he paced, but had Shoji seen a spark of approval before he turned? He blinked, and looked around the room. The vines that he had noticed on the way in were almost gone, just litle lines of ash that trailed in weird shapes on the carpet were left. Kalerin brushed ash off the sofa, and turned on the tv, hoping to take his mind off of his experience.

Shoji stared at the portal in the floor, as if it was going to open up and take him with it. He looked at Kalerin, and sighed, thinking about the past few hours. Here his new friend was, almost gotten killed, and what had Shoji been doing? Umm... he couldn't think of anything logically about that. With the danger around, he had forgotten it, but now it filled his mind. Yusuke... him? He stole a furtive glance at the pacing Yusuke, and then looked towards the window, lost in thought. He thought of the moment when Yusuke had kissed him, his brown eyes had seemed like he had finally found relief, when before, as Shoji realized now, they had always held a haunted, almost pained look. 'I wonder what could have happened, my father once told me from his missions to other countries with power-torn wars, of the people that had survived who had lost others they loved, of things happening to themselves.' He turned and watched Yusuke, noticing the haunted expression was still in his eyes, amid the worry he must obviously be feeling towards his friends. 'Oh, Yusuke... What could have happened to you to cause such pain?'

As if he'd heard, Yusuke stopped pacing and looked up, noticing Shoji watching him. He blinked, a small trace of red showing on his cheeks, and glanced down at himself. "What, is there something wrong?"

Embaressed, Shoji shook his head and looked away quickly. "No, nothing's wrong... I was just thinking... about what went on tonight...," he finished in a small voice. He sat on one of the chairs near the window, and looked at the city lights, trying to put his hurried thoughts to rest. Gazing at his reflection he still saw that the rose Yusuke had given him was still in his hair. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and jumped at the contact, his head turning slightly to find Yusuke staring out at the city as well.

"I'm... sorry...," he sighed softly. "I probabley was moving too fast or something for you..." He closed his eyes, his hand still on Shoji's shoulder. After a moment, he spoke again. "I know this is not what you were expecting when you came to Tokyo... It just seemed like... seeing you made me feel better then I have in a long time..."

Shoji blinked, feeling sorry for Yusuke, for it confirmed some of what he had been thinking. His hand was moving before he knew it, to lay on top of Yusuke's now trembling hand. Yusuke opened his eyes in surprise and gazed down at Shoji, who smiled softly. "I... understand. Things have been rough for you, but I hope they will get better."

Yusuke let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, then started as a clock chimed. He gasped as he remembered the events of the evening. Looking at the time, he saw that in a few minutes they would have to go after Hiei and Kurama. He ran towards the portal, taking Shoji's hand and Kalerin(who had turned off the tv when he saw Yusuke heading towards the portal) followed them. "Okay, in one minute I'll open up the portal, and we'll go in. Are you both ready?"

The others nodded, clutching their new weapons as they looked anxiously at the hole. Yusuke had placed his hands over the portal, and had started to glow, when a light shot up out of the carpet. Knocked on their backs, Yusuke, Shoji, and Kalerin stared in shock as one hand reached out to hold onto the carpet, then another. Yusuke scrambled to his feet, one hand glowing, when he suddenly let the power slip as more of the creature, totally covered in slime and clutching something equally covered, fell to the floor as the portal closed again. "Hiei!" Yusuke exclaimed, and ran forward to help his friend, but Hiei pushed the hand away. He dropped the whimpering object, which Shoji now realized was Kurama, and got to his feet. Panting softly, he gave them all an angry look, and stated flatly, "I am going to take a shower." He stomped off into the bathroom nearest Shoji's room, since that was the closest.

"Kurama, what's wrong?" Kalerin was touching Kurama, stroking his back gently, not caring if he got slime-covered. Kurama whimpered once more, and ran into the bathroom where Hiei was. They heard a muffled yell, and Kurama shot out of the room and into Kalerin's arms, wet now as well as slime-covered. Kalerin hugged the fox, comforting him, apparently thinking more to help Kurama then getting messed up himself.

'..I'm sorry! I just wanted to help!..' Kurama thought anxiously, looking at them all. His gold eyes glanced towards the bathroom, and back at them.

Kalerin patted Kurama, "It's ok, what happened? You went into a portal. Did something try to take you?"

Kurama blinked before he shook, Yusuke and Shoji trying to sheild themselves from the spray. Kalerin still patted the fox, even though his clothes were a mess now. '..Hiei got a message, a man wanted to talk to him. Hiei said no, but I wanted to help..' Kurama looked confused for a moment, '..I took him there. The man had nice flowers..' His eyes took on a pleading expression, '..I didn't know he was going to make us stay there forever and ever! I just thought he was nice cause he had nice flowers..' The golden eyes then gleamed in eagerness, '..I can make nice flowers, wanna see?..'

Yusuke and Shoji said "No!" at the same time, for both were thinking of the ruined ballroom. Kalerin agreed, for he had noticed the room as well when he had gone to get help. "Maybe some other time," he said, trying to mollify Kurama, who was whimpering again. Yusuke tried to question him more, but all he got about the 'man's' appearence was that he was 'bumpy all over', which Yusuke took to mean that he was probabley strong.

The door opened, and Koenma walked into the room. "Ah, I see they got back..." he said casually as he examined the room. Yusuke glared at him, "What took you so long?" Koenma shrugged, his brown eyes landing on his associate. "I do have things I have to maintain, you know full well I can't rush out of 'certain meetings'." He said the last two words with added emphasis, and Yusuke didn't ask anymore, for he knew exactly what Koenma meant.

Shoji shook his head, now feeling somewhat tired. He walked into his room, looking around for any signs of vines, but it had not entered his room, for which he was glad for. He changed clothes, looking at his wet outfit with dismay. He hung it up to let it dry, and sat down on the bed, leaving the door slightly open so he could hear what the others were talking about. His door leading to the bathroom opened, and Hiei looked steadily at him, dressed in somewhat wet clothes.

Shoji gasped, and stuttered, "I-I'm... sorry. I didn't mean..." Hiei merely shrugged, saying in a low-toned voice, "Why should you apologize? It's your room." He turned and walked towards the main room.

Shoji blinked, and picked up his book, starting to read it. He could hear Koenma and Yusuke questioning Hiei, who basically stated that it was all taken care of, that the demon wouldn't be a problem anymore, that first thing in the morning the others had better cure Kurama or else, and that he was going to bed. Yusuke and Koenma talked softly for a moment, then Yusuke rapped on the door. Shoji blinked up at him, putting his book down.

"Sheesh, such an event-filled day, huh?" He sighed, which turned into a yawn. "Oh, well, I'd better get going... My rooms are clear across town." He looked at the room with a little bit of envy, and started towards the door.

"Um... Yusuke?" The hesitent voice startled him, for it was Shoji's. "You can stay here, I mean, I don't think Koenma would mind... I don't, really..."

"Well, I don't know..." Yusuke wavered, then jerked in surprise as Koenma tapped him on the shoulder. "Why not?" Koenma asked, "I certainly don't mind, you know I've been after you to stay here."

"I know, but.." Yusuke gave up, and shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, I'll be back in an hour, I've... got to take care of some things first..." He left, leaving Koenma to wink at Shoji before he closed the door. Shoji rolled over to stare up at the ceiling. 'Is this a good idea? I want to help him, he appears so... empty would be a good word... But I don't know, it all seems so surreal. Someone notices me, and likes me, and... and ... am I ready for it?' He shook his head, trying to clear his rambling thoughts, and picked up his book, the thoughts still bothering him.

Some time later, he heard the outer door open, and Yusuke walking in. His voice told Hiei to move over, but a sleepy growl effectively stopped him. A knock on Shoji's door meant that Yusuke was trying for sleeping space in his room.

"Come in?" Shoji called softly, and Yusuke walked in, closing the door behind him. "Kuso, can't believe how short people can take up so much room on a couch..." He gazed around the room, and moved towards the bed. "Do you mind... if I used the bed too?"

Shoji shook his head, the movement making his hair drift around him. "No, I'm used to sharing a bed with someone, I mean, I had to share a few times with my cousin Jonathon when we went on training missions together..." He moved over so Yusuke could have some room, and picked up his book again. Over the top of the book, he noticed Yusuke sit on the bed, somewhat uncomfortably, and lie down, staring fixatedly at the wall. Shoji moved slightly, pretending that he was trying to find a more comfortable position in which to read. In fact, he was wondering if Yusuke was sleeping, as his eyes were now closed, but his breathing seemed too fast for a sleeping person. Shoji smiled a little mischivously, and squirmed some more, until he rested his head on Yusuke's shoulder, leaning into his back. A strangled noise came from the body next to him, but Shoji pretended not to notice as he read more of the chapter.

He felt a slight tug on one of his locks of hair, and flicked his eyes over to see that Yusuke was stroking the hair, his brown eyes staring at the lilac-colored hair, with a small stain of pale green at the end of the lock. Yusuke noticed Shoji watching him, and turned his head slightly. "I was wondering, how you managed to do this with your--" He stopped, as he realized he was mere inches from Shoji's face. Shoji reached up, twirling one of the other locks of hair around his finger unconsciously, as he always did when he was nervous. "I..er... that..." Yusuke stammered, seeming to have trouble talking now. He gave it up, and his hand reached up to touch Shoji's face as he kissed him again. The book fell from Shoji's hands, and Yusuke picked it up to drop it onto the floor.

After a moment, Yusuke let go, staring up at Shoji. Shoji blinked, the warring emotions in him holding him to stare back. Curiousity won, and he leaned down to give Yusuke a small experimental brush on the lips, closing his eyes as he did so. He opened them to find Yusuke smiling slightly at him. "Congratulations, you can kiss a guy on the lips and still live..." He didn't get to say much more as Shoji, more bolder this time, kissed him soundly. He could feel Yusuke tremble slightly underneath him, and one hand winding itself around his back under his shirt. Shoji put his arms around Yusuke in an embrace, wondering if he should mimic him. He felt his shirt being tugged, and broke the kiss long enough for Yusuke to pull it off. Yusuke kissed him as soon as he had thrown the shirt behind him. Shoji slowly slid one of his hands down Yusuke's shirt, and felt Yusuke trembling again.

As time passed, he didn't know how he had gotten Yusuke's shirt off, suddenly he wasn't wearing it anymore. They spent some time in each other's embrace, curious hands touching and stroking as they kissed deeply. Shoji knew somehow that Yusuke wouldn't go any farther then what they were doing, he didn't want things to go too fast for his new love. His hands touched Yusuke's hair, which was threatening to break out of the ponytail. Shoji helped it, and smiled into the kiss as it streamed over Yusuke's back. Yusuke chuckled, and began playing with Shoji's hair again. Shoji broke the kiss, and laid his head on Yusuke's shoulder, still clutching him in his arms. "I hope..." Shoji didn't get to finish as his eyes slid shut. Yusuke smiled softly, he knew Shoji must have been exhausted, heck, he was exhausted himself. He listened to the boy's breathing slow, and kissed the hair once more before falling asleep himself.

******

Some time during the night, Shoji was jerked out of slumber as Yusuke twitched in his arms. He listened for a moment, hearing him mumbling incoherently in his sleep. "Yusuke...?" Shoji sleepily whispered, tightening his embrace slightly on his sleeping companion.

"...my fault..." Yusuke muttered into Shoji's chest. Shoji blinked, and tried to listen for more. A small noise like a sob escaped from Yusuke, and his hands clenched on Shoji's hair. "...I didn't mean... She wasn't supposed to..." The sob came again, and Shoji felt hot droplets touch his chest. He sighed and started to stroke Yusuke's hair, whispering soft reassurances as Yusuke cried into his embrace. 'He must be having a nightmare... I must have been right about before...' Shoji thought, still trying to comfort Yusuke. Eventually Yusuke settled back into sleep, with Shoji soon following right after him.

Shoji woke first, to the soft sound of a television. He wondered who could be up so early, since the clock read eight in the morning. He looked around the room, and wondered why it looked so different, and who was this strange guy-- Yusuke, right... He shook his head, causing Yusuke to move sleepily, still clutching Shoji. Now he was remembering what had happened the day before, and especially the night too. He smiled to himself, and stretched his arms slightly, trying not to wake up Yusuke, but he failed as Yusuke raised his head to look up at Shoji. His brown eyes were weary, and he looked about ready to go back to sleep.

Shoji smiled softly, "Morning..." He stroked Yusuke's back, and Yusuke forgot about being tired as he leaned forward to kiss Shoji again. Shoji couldn't believe it, last night had seemed like a dream, but here he was, in his arms, kissing Yusuke back just as fiercely. 'I'm... in love...' was all he could think.

A knock on the door surprised them both, as it opened to reveal Koenma standing there with his arms crossed. "Wake-up call," he merely said, and left the room. Yusuke snarled something in his direction, and looked back at Shoji. "I wish I could stay here, with you, but we have to..." Shoji nodded, as he sat up. "I understand, you have to help Kurama." His turquiose eyes became stern, but with a hint of mischivous too. "I order you to get a cure for him and come back to me, er us safely..." He was stopped from speaking by Yusuke laughing softly and putting a finger on his lips. "You don't need to order me, I already have to deal with him," Yusuke said, grinning as he pointed at the main room where Koenma could be heard trying to wake up Kuwabara. "But I do promise to come back to you though..." Shoji nodded, laughing and Yusuke took away his finger to kiss him again. It was some time before Yusuke could tear himself away and leave the room, and Shoji fell asleep again as he was thinking of going after Yusuke to see him off.

Yusuke peeked in on Shoji before he left, and saw that he was sleeping peacefully. He felt somewhat sorry that he had asked Koenma to put him to sleep, but Shoji would need it for what was to come.

Shoji blinked, what was he doing at his house? He looked around, thinking that he was supposed to be in Tokyo now, and noticed someone standing in the shadow of one of the trees. The figure moved away, revealing his black hair and sapphire eyes, and Shoji stared. "Jon... Jonathon?...No, you're not Jonathon, who are you?"

The other person put a hand to his hips, and smiled. "No, I'm not your cousin, though I should be somewhat familiar to you." He shrugged, "I used to visit you sometimes when you were growing up, though I know I havn't been around much lately."

Shoji's eyes grew wide. "You're my secret friend! The one that took care of me when I was scared or needed help. When you didn't show up anymore, I just thought..."

"That I was a imaginary child friend?" He smiled, "I understand, I've...been sort of busy..." The other person gazed about in wonder, "It's nice that you and your family kept this land beautiful for so long." Before Shoji could grasp what he had meant, his 'secret friend' waved, and said "I'll see you again soon, but you'd better wake up now."

Shoji blinked, and realized he was back in the hotel room in Tokyo, and that it'd been several hours since Yusuke had left. He felt a momentary pang of loss, but managed to control himself that Yusuke could very well take care of himself and that he did promise to come back. He sighed, and took a shower. When he was finished, he unpacked some of the food he had bought in the store yesterday, and began to write a letter. Since he was going to be there longer then he thought, he might as well let them know so they wouldn't be worried.

He was halfway through his letter, when the door opened to let Kurama in. '..What'cha doing?..' Kurama peered over his shoulder to read the letter.

Shoji showed him the paper. '..I'm writing a letter to my family to let them know I'm all right. So they won't worry..'

'..Oh..' Kurama was silent for a moment. Then he dashed off into Kalerin's room, where he could be heard conversing with Kalerin in the kitsune language. '..Why arn't you writing a letter?..' '..Oh, I don't have anyone to write to..' Kalerin sounds somewhat strange, Shoji thought, I think when I'm done I'll ask him if he's all right.

Shoji finished his letter, and was walking to the mail slot to drop it in, when Hiei stalked out of Kalerin's room, looking somewhat sullen, and flopped onto the couch. A moment later, Kalerin came out of his room with a mystified expression on his face, with Kurama looking very proud perched on his shoulder. Wordlessly he handed Shoji the paper he'd been clutching. It read, in shaky small writing, 'This is a letter, I'm writing so Kurama will not bother me any more. Hiei.'

Shoji blinked several times, and stared at Kurama, who was now preening himself again. '..Do you like it, Shoji-san?..' One of his tails began to glow, and a vine started to grow along the tv. Hiei didn't say anything, he just appeared next to Kurama and grabbed him by the tails like he had the day before. Once again, Kurama placed his front paws on Hiei's shoulders and began licking his face.

"Ummm... Can we go someplace today?" Kalerin asked plaintively, probley not wanting to see a singed fox sometime in the near future. Kurama stopped licking Hiei, and looked at him, then at Hiei again, '..Yeah, can we? Please? Please?.." Hiei glared at him, and sighed softly, "Fine, where?"

Shoji mentioned the park he had seen on his way here, and that was agreed upon by all. Shoji went into his room, to grab his jacket. As he was in there, he could hear Kalerin, Hiei and Kurama all talking. He couldn't understand anything they were saying, but when he walked out, he didn't see the silver fox that he had grown accustomed to seeing, in its place stood a human boy, looking about seven years old, with short red hair and green eyes.

Blinking, Shoji stared at the boy, who could only be Kurama. "I had to change, they said people would stare at me being a fox..." The boy glanced down at himself, looking at his body with an expression of being uncomfortable and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "I don't like being like this, I'd rather be a fox..." Kurama finished in a pouting voice.

Shoji nodded, "Yeah, I know, but people think it's more normal to see a human kid then a fox running around." He then smiled, "besides, I can show you how to play as a human, if you want, I do it all the time with my younger cousins."

"Really??" Kurama asked eagerly, and he ran forward to hug Shoji. "Thanks, Shoji-san!"

They left the hotel, and walked towards the park. Apparently, there was a festival being held in the park, so it was filled with rides, games, and boothes filled with various items. Hiei won some plush animals for Kurama, who had pushed for each animal until Hiei gave in. Shoji and Kalerin each played a few games, and won several things for themselves. One of the last games Shoji played, he won a free visit to a fortune teller for his whole group, as well as a golden bracelet. It looked like an ordinary plain bracelet, with a little length of chain links across some of it, but it felt a little different in his hands, as if it were alive. He didn't sense anything evil about the bracelet, rather, a feeling of benevolence overcame him as he snapped it onto his wrist. He heard someone approaching, and turned to see Kalerin running towards him, grinning hugely while holding something in his hand.

"Look what I won!" Kalerin showed him a white jewel pendant which had a small black streak inside of it. Shoji helped him put it on, and showed him his bracelet. "Isn't it pretty!" Kalerin exclaimed, and turned to where Hiei and Kurama were to meet them. Hiei was standing near one of the snack carts, one of his arms was holding all of the toys he had won for Kurama, while the other hand was clutching Kurama's hand. Kurama, meanwhile, was darting all over, looking at everything curiously and begging Hiei for more toys and something to eat.

"Oh, what pretty things you guys won! Hiei, can you get them for me too, please?" Kurama had noticed what they had won, and Hiei shook his head, glaring as if having fun was illegal. It didn't help his expression when he was holding fluffy foxes, rabbits and other animals, however.

"Shoji won a trip to the fortune teller," Kalerin said, beaming as he held out his pendant, "Isn't it pretty? It's all shiny!"

"Nice. Now can we go to the tent of fortunes then?" Hiei said shortly, basically trying to shut up Kurama, who had forgotten about the pendent and bracelet, and was now pulling at Shoji's hand, begging him to go.

As they approached the tent, they saw a hand stick out of the tent, and point right at Shoji. "You first, boy..." a voice out of nowhere boomed. Shoji jumped at the voice, and looked at his companions. "Well..." he shrugged, "I guess I'm first..." He entered, and closed the door behind him. He could see nothing in the tent, it was all dark. A moment passed, and when he was seriously thinking of just going back to the hotel, a voice whispered his name. It came from the back of the tent, and stumbling his way farther into the tent, Shoji bumped against something hard. Feeling his way, he found out it was a table. "Now what?" he asked softly.

"Please, sit down," the same voice said quietly, and a light flared up. Shoji hid his eyes from the glare, and when he could see, it was coming from a glowing ball floating above the table. It showed the outline of a chair, and shrugging again, Shoji sat on it. "Umm... Hello?" He asked, feeling somewhat alone.

A person appeared on the other side of the table suddenly, and as Shoji stared, put his hands on the globe. "...I see you are a long way from home..." the low voice intoned.

Blinking, Shoji nodded. So this was a regular fortune teller, he thought, one that would just give him a vague fortune, then send him on his way. He relaxed, and noticed that the other person was now quiet, the sapphire eyes unfocused. He saw him shake his head, and look at Shoji again, "...You have met someone..." He shook his head, and glanced off to his right with a hint of anger in his eyes, though Shoji could see no one there. "Seiji, I can't do this. You're the mystical one, not me... Here." He took off the robes, and shook out his black hair to reveal himself as the person Shoji had seen in his dream.

Shoji gasped, "What...What - How? You are real!" He hadn't even known he was holding his breath when the other person disrobed, and he let it out now. "What are you doing here?"

Sapphire eyes blinked, and he now smiled softly at Shoji. "Well, I can appear to you like this occaisionally, but most of the time I can only peek in on you, though like I said before, I can be ... busy most of the time..." He shrugged, and went on. "My name is Ryo, Sanada Ryo, and like you may have guessed, I am your ancestor, well, one of them anyway..." His face took on a serious expression, and he nodded once more to the side of him, as if he could see the person there. "I know I'm blunt, I'm not as formal as you are, and I know we have to get back to them..." He said in a low voice, almost so low Shoji could barely hear him, then turned to face Shoji again. "Well, anyway, yes, I can appear to you like this, though it won't be often, and don't worry, you can trust the people you are with, even if they are a little weird..." His eyes flicked over and narrowed, but he continued. "I don't have long, since I must also speak to the others in your group, but there are couple more things I can tell you. First the bracelet, it's as you guessed, it is benevolent, because it's a sort of link to your friend Yusuke. Plus, you will be taking a journey soon, trust your friend Kalerin, because even though he was raised differently, that difference will help you. Finally, don't rush off into danger without seeing what's happening, as I know we Sanadas are prone to do..." His voice took on a wry note, and he shrugged, "I'll see you later, and take care of yourself and your new friend, I mean friends..." He smiled slightly again and began to put on the robes again. "I still have to talk to Kalerin, Hiei and Kurama, so I'd better put these back on, hopefully I'll do better."

Shoji smiled and nodded, grateful now that he wouldn't have to be so awestruck at his ancestor. He waved, said goodbye, and left the tent. After a moment, the same hand pointed at Kalerin, and he went inside the tent. Shoji sat underneath a tree, to try to think about what he had just learned. He barely heard Kurama asking him what had happened, but Hiei pulled the kitsune-boy away to await their turn.

Kalerin emerged from the tent a few moments later, his eyes lost in thought and not looking at anyone, as Hiei took his turn, refusing to wait for the hand to beckon him in as he dragged Kurama in with him. Shoji looked up at Kalerin curiously, "What did the fortune teller say to you?"

Kalerin blinked, his eyes focusing down on Shoji. He blinked again, and shrugged. "He told me about my pendant, and that Heero is all right..." He glanced up at the sky, and didn't say anything more. That was when Hiei and Kurama left the tent, and approached them. They refused to say anything about the visit, Kurama being quiet for once, and Hiei said shortly that they had to get back to the hotel.

As soon as they got to their room, Hiei went still for a moment, a small glow emenating from his headband, and shook his head disgustedly. "I have to go after them, I entrust you two with Kurama, and if anything happens to him..." He left off, but the determined look in his small red eyes told Kalerin and Shoji that killing them swiftly was the least they could hope for. Kurama by this time had turned back into a fox, and was zipping along the room, happy to be back in his regular form, but stopped short when he heard Hiei. '..You're leaving?? I wanna come too!!..' He jumped onto Hiei's head, and stared into his face. '..I'm going, I wanna stay with you!..'

Hiei glared at him, and told him repeatedly that he couldn't go, he had to stay here with the two other foxes. '..No, I wanna go with!..' Kurama shook himself, and two of his tails began to glow. Before even waiting to see if any plants grew this time(the ivy was still growing alongside the tv), Hiei grabbed Kurama with one hand holding his front paws and the other hand clutching him by his seven tails. "Here," Hiei handed a now-whimpering silver fox to Shoji, who took him firmly, not wishing to get Hiei angrier then he already looked. Hiei nodded once, and without looking back, he left the room.

Kurama immediately began squirming in Shoji's arms, and yipping that he wanted to go after Hiei. Kalerin went to shut and lock the door tightly, and Shoji belatedly remembered the collar that Koenma had put on Kurama. He let Kurama go, and Kurama gleefully ran towards the door -- only to stop about ten feet away from it, as if there had been an invisible chain attached to the collar. He turned to Shoji and Kalerin, only to find them sitting down on the couch now, watching him with a little sign of sympathy in their eyes. "I understand how you feel, Kurama..." Kalerin said. "I wish I could go too, but we promised Hiei we'd keep you here safe."

'..I don't want to stay safe...' the fox whimpered, '..I wanna stay with Hiei..' Something in his eyes seemed to make them glow as he said, '..I always used to fight with Hiei against demons..' The light died, and he looked at them with confusion, '..But why can't I now?..'

Shoji sighed, "I'm sorry, Kurama, but we can't. We promised everyone we would take care of you." He put a hand into his purple hair, and began to twine one of the locks around one of his fingers. "Is there something we can do that can help us pass the time until they come back?" 'and maybe make you forget about going after Hiei?' Shoji thought as he looked at his hair on his hand. 'Yusuke liked my hair... liked me...I hope he's all right...' The thought came suddenly, and he shook his head, saying "Well, maybe we can go to this gym I saw a couple floors down or something, I do need the exercise, and you havn't seen me in kitsune form yet."

Kurama stopped pouting, and look at them eagerly, '..You havn't? Is it silver like Kalerin's and mine? Can I see?..'

Shoji nodded, grateful to make some headway, "Of course, let's just go down to the gym, and we can play hide and seek or tag or something."

Kalerin nodded just as eagerly as Kurama, and grinned at the prospect of playing. "I love playing tag, Heero and I always played tag, but most of the time when we played Hide and Seek, I could never find him." He shrugged, and looked like he was about ready to change, when Shoji stopped him. "Wait, we have to get down there first, meaning we need our keys."

After grabbing their keys(Shoji took his new coat along to keep his in it), they rode the elevator down, Kalerin and Kurama were excitedly pointing parts of the city to each other as Shoji watched with a smile on his face. They opened the gym door with their keys, and as the door opened, they stared in shock, this place was huge! Numerous bars and rings either hung from the ceiling, or stuck out from the walls. Matts, some hard but most others were soft lined the floors or were stacked against the far wall. There were even a few running treadmills, as well as a climbing rope. The door closed behind them, and Kalerin immediately changed into a fox. '..This is fun!..' he thought to Shoji as he chased after Kurama.

Shoji watched them for a few minutes, smiling to himself as he saw one silver fox with seven tails being chased by another silver fox with only one tail. 'Well, here goes...' he thought, and concentrated. It wasn't instantaneous as Kurama's or Kalerin's was, since he had been born human. He basically had to will his fox form to come to him. After a short time, he began to feel somewhat different and opened his eyes to find his viewpoint drastically altered, everything in the room was suddenly much bigger. He glanced down at his body to examine the dark grey fur and one tail, and nodded in satisfaction. Kurama and Kalerin stopped in front of him, and watched him for a minute. Kurama blinked, '..So that's what You look like... Not silver like us, but you're still pretty..' He stepped before Shoji, and licked him on the nose. '..TAG! You're it!..' and he and Kalerin ran off in different directions.

'..Hey!..' Shoji sniffed, and ran after Kalerin, just barely catching him before he could dart in another direction. '..TAG!..' he yelled and ran off laughing with Kalerin in hot pursuit.

They played tag for a while, with Kalerin and Shoji each being able to finally catch Kurama once. Then they played hide and seek, with Kalerin counting first. Shoji shot into a pile of mats, while Kurama ran into another. As Kalerin went off in search to find them, Shoji sat still, hoping that Kalerin would find Kurama first so Kurama would have to find them then. He felt the mats rustle, and a small silver head ducked into his hiding place. '..Found you!..' Kalerin sang, and Shoji sighed as he emerged from the mats. '..Kurama! I found Shoji, you can come out now!..' Kalerin 'called' and they both listened. There was no answer or movement. '..Where did you see him go?..' '..Over there, in the corner..'

They silently crept over to the pile of mats where Kurama was supposed to be, thinking he would jump out and surprise them. Shoji cocked his head, sniffing. Kurama was supposed to be here, he could smell him, and with the collar on, he couldn't go far. '..Shoji...' He heard Kalerin's voice with a trace of whimpering in it, and turned. '..We have a problem...' There Kalerin sat, the collar that Kurama was supposed to be wearing was clenched in his teeth. Shoji went cold all over, and glanced wildly about, finally seeing the door that they had entered close. '..Come on!..' Shoji thought, and turned back into a human. "We have to get him back!" He opened the door, and ran through the hallway, with kitsune-Kalerin following him. Kalerin overtook him, and raced ahead of him, until they reached the end of the hall. There was a hole in the wall, Shoji noticed absently as he stared at it, with seven silver fox tails just now disappearing into it. The portal was pulling at them, swirling Shoji's hair and clothing wildly. Kalerin was whimpering, '..It's another of the thing that tried to eat me..'

"I know, Kalerin, but we have to go and get Kurama back, he isn't supposed to do this..." He gazed down at Kalerin, "You don't have to go if you don't want to, but we promised everyone we would take care of Kurama."

'..I know...'Kalerin looked at his feet, before glancing back up at Shoji with a look of resolution. '..But I'll come with, you might need help getting him back..' Kalerin jumped into his arms, and Shoji held him tightly as it looked like the portal was closing. "Here we go!" Shoji jumped into the portal just before it closed.