Chapter 4 'Chasing Lost Foxes'

note:There is a hidden link on the bottom of this page, it is the epilogue to the story. WARNING! It is VERY Yaoi Lemon(my first, in fact ^_^) so if you can not stomach the blatent details of a Yaoi relationship, then do not seek out the link. You have been warned, so do not send flames(flames will be used to keep Yusuke and Shoji warm, in fact... ^_^). Comments will be accepted otherwise...

The mirror-filled hallway was quiet, as it showed multiple images of the two travellers walking away from the doors. Shoji touched one experimentally, and snatched his hand away as it rippled under his touch. Kalerin blinked at it, and stifled a laugh behind his hand as their forms in the mirrors became very distorted. He stopped, however, when the pictures began to whirl rapidly. Shoji gasped and pulled Kalerin out of the hallway just before the mirrors fell to the ground. The dreadful crashing of the glass just about deafened them both. "Oh, my..." Shoji said, horrified at what he'd caused. Kalerin patted his hand, "Don't worry, you didn't know it would do that..." He grinned suddenly, "But it sure was funny!" His laughter led the way, as Shoji made a mental note not to touch any more of the mirrors.

The hallway turned, then twisted, then made another right turn. They had to stop when their path became forked. "Now which way?" Shoji wondered out loud, and looked at Kalerin, who was looking just as confused. "Hmmm... Maybe if I turn into a fox, maybe I could get their scent..." Kalerin smiled, and was about to close his eyes to turn himself into a fox when Shoji stopped him. "Hold on, it could be dangerous, what if we get separated?"

Kalerin looked at him, a puzzled expression on his face. "Well, I'll just ride in your arms. Why are you so worried all of the time?" He changed to a fox then, leaving Shoji to stare at his reflection in one of the mirrors. Shoji sighed and knew Kalerin was right, just because this was his first trip away from home and anyone he knew, he shouldn't be acting like a little lost crybaby. What would Yusuke think of him if he was just going to back away and let others do his fighting. He became aware of a tugging on his pants and glanced down to see an impatient silver fox looking anxiously at him. '..Come on, I smell Kurama's scent!..' Kalerin pulled again, and Shoji nodded. He picked up Kalerin, and steeling himself, he set off into the path leading into the right side.

"Ok, What do we do now?" Shoji looked down at Kalerin, who himself had what looked to be a look of consternation on his small face. They had traveled several more hallways, and stopped when they could go no further, for the mirrors surrounded them except where they had just come from. '..This has to be the way..' Kalerin squirmed in Shoji's arms, '..I can also smell Hiei as well as Kurama..' He shook himself, and jumped out of Shoji's hold. He sniffed around all the the walls, being careful not to touch any of them. After several minutes of searching, he stopped in front of the mirror that made up the left side of the hallway. '..They went in there, the scent goes right up to that mirror..' Kalerin's kitsune voice had a small bit of hesitation as he continued, '..But then it just stops and I can't find it anymore..'

"What do we do now?" Shoji sat on the ground, and absently stroked Kalerin, who leaned into his hand like a cat. "Should we go back, and try some of the other passageways? Or just try to call them on the watch that Botan gave me?" He realized what he was doing to Kalerin, and took his hand away, apologizing to the fox profusely. Kalerin shook his head, and said it wasn't anything. '..Heero always ...' The fox blinked, and walked towards the mirror, '..Wait a minute... In that dream with Heero, there was a mirror like this, and the creature that was chasing me came out of it!..' He put out a paw carefully towards the mirror.

"No, don't!" Shoji tried to pull Kalerin back, but the fox's paw touched the mirror anyway. He got up, ready to try to run away from the mirrors that would crash down, even though that particular corridor was very long. He heard his companion give what sounded like a gasp, and as he stared, the mirrored image did ripple, but instead of behaving like the other part of the maze, this cleared to reveal a doorway. "You have cleared the first test of the maze," a voice all around them boomed. Kalerin and Shoji looked at each other, startled, then glanced everywhere for the voice, which was nowhere to be found. "I guess there is nothing to do, but go through the door," Shoji said resolutely. He carried fox-Kalerin, and passed through the image.

At first there was no change from the earlier part of the maze. They turned right, then left, then straight for a while. The faint moan that seemed to come from the tunnels ahead made them both yelp in surprise, for there had been no sound at all in the maze since they had entered except when they talked to each other. Shoji blinked, and Kalerin turned human so he could use his staff. They gripped their weapons and cautiously crept towards the next turn, where it seemed the moan had come from. As they turned the corner, Shoji almost dropped his sword in horror. Kalerin choked out a horrified gasp as he also spotted the scene in front of them. The walls were blood-spattered, as were the two bodies lying on the ground. "Nooo..." Shoji whispered, seeing and recognizing the clothes of one that was slumped against the wall. Kalerin's eyes were glazing over as he stumbled towards the other person.

Shoji gripped his kodachi for support as he came closer, his face going white as he saw for sure it was Yusuke. "H..H..Hi-ei.." he barely heard Kalerin stutter beside him. "NO!" Shoji's agonized cry echoed through the tunnels. He knelt by Yusuke, and put his face in his hands, tears starting to fall. A light touch startled him, and he glanced up to see Yusuke's hand moving slightly, the eyes cracking open. 'Sho...ji...' A soft whisper of thought touched his mind. "Yusuke?" Shoji touched him with a shaking hand, he couldn't bear to see Yusuke like this. "Hiei's alive too," Kalerin touched Shoji's shoulder, making him look up at his companion. "But they're both badly hurt. They need to go back to the hotel."

Shoji's mind raced. He thought of several options, and told them to Kalerin. The first was to try the watch, but it couldn't pick up anything but static. The second was to try to get them through the rest of the maze, but Kalerin shook his head, saying that Yusuke and Hiei were too badly hurt for such a journey. Shoji shoved his hands into his pockets of his trenchcoat, trying to find anything in there. His searching fingers brushed against something soft, and he pulled it out, revealing it to be the black feather they had gotten from the gryphon. "Kalerin, this is it!" Shoji held up the feather. "With this we can send two people back." His face took on an expression of dismay. "Now who should go..." His head fell forward, the purple hair hiding his eyes.

He knew at once he should send Kalerin and Hiei, maybe he could tell Koenma and the others what had happened and send them back for him and Yusuke. He set his face determinedly, and looked up. "You go." Kalerin was a half-second later in saying the same thing. Shoji gasped, "What? What do you mean, you have to go, someone should tell the others where we are." Kalerin shook his head, "No, I think you and Yusuke should go, since you both are linked."

Shoji could have smashed his kodachi into the walls in frustration, but that would have made things worse. They tried to argue the best course for several minutes, until finally Shoji said in exsaperation, "Fine, we'll stay here, Yusuke and Hiei go by themselves, and we send along a note telling everyone about this, ok?"

Kalerin nodded, anger and worry mixing in his eyes. Shoji wrote the note while Kalerin explained to Yusuke and Hiei how to use the feather. Yusuke's head moved, a sign he understood. Pinning the note to Yusuke's shirt, Shoji kissed his cheek and stepped away. Shoji's head dropped into his hands again as their injured friends disappeared. "Well done, you have passed the second test of the maze," the same voice as before boomed about them. Shoji's head snapped up in shock to see that the walls and floor were no longer blood-stained. The black feather drifted down to lay where Yusuke and Hiei had been, and another doorway opened farther down the hall. Kalerin gasped, and Shoji fell to his knees, too stunned to think of everything except for one thing that he now realized. His bracelet, which he had forgotten about, had not once reacted the whole time Yusuke was 'here'. After some time getting their emotions together, they continued through the next doorway.

They found themselves in a strange place compared to their surroundings before. Rose bushes were everywhere, their buds just now starting to open into multicolored roses. Birds were singing, a stark contrast to the mirrored walls and silence in the earlier part of the maze. A path led away to the left, and in the midst of all the chirping, they could hear laughter. "Wait," Kalerin put a hand to his ear to listen more closely to the laughter. "I thought so, it's Kurama's!" He changed to a fox, and Shoji barely had time to make his change before he chased after Kalerin. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to be a fox. His smell was more developed, so other then the roses, he could also smell the damp earth under his running paws. His now-sharp eyes caught movement up ahead. '..Kalerin! It's Kurama! I see the tails!..' he barely had time to see the seven silver tails as they disappeared around a corner.

'..What the...' Kalerin came to a stop, and Shoji halted right behind him. He could easily see that instead of the sharp angles in the last part of the maze, it was now tunnels that were curved, like a concentric maze that Shoji knew he had seen in one of his books. '..Come on! Or we'll lose him..' Shoji 'exclaimed' and ran after the tails he had seen again.

Several times as they turned the curves, the laughter would be louder, like Kurama was in the next part. But when they got there, all they would see would be the tails disappearing around the next end. Finally they reached the center, where they could see many groves of rose bushes, all in various colors of blooms. There was also a single marble statue of a fox with its paw raised in the air, when they checked it out, Shoji noticed that it had a small hole in the mouth. They separated long enough to check out each grove, but there was no Kurama to be seen. '..Now what do we do?..'Shoji asked, panting as he came to sit where Kalerin was already trying to catch his breath. '..Hmm...' Kalerin looked at him, then up at the statue he was resting under. '..Well, since it's obvious Kurama's not here, this is probley another part of a test..'

'..Right, another one of those so we can get to the rest of the maze...' Shoji sighed. '..I wonder if the others are really in here, if they are I havn't seen any sign of them..' He wandered through the bushes again, leaving Kalerin to stare at the statue again. This time he noticed something different, a red rose that was the only flower on the bush some distance away from the statue. He sniffed it, and found that it had no scent. He plucked it with his teeth, and trotted back to Kalerin. '..I found this, it seems very weird, it has no scent..'

Kalerin blinked and looked up at the statue, '..You know, I've been wondering about that hole, it looks small enough to--..'

Shoji didn't let him finish. '..Like a rose goes between its teeth!..' He turned back to his human form, and took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing..." He pushed the rose into the hole, and waited. For a minute, nothing happened, and Shoji blinked, sure he'd done the right thing. Then a deep rumbling shook the ground, and Kalerin jumped out of the way as the statue rose out of the air. Kalerin changed back as well, and peered down into the dark hole. "There are stairs that go down, but I can't tell where they go."

Shoji shrugged, and looked down too. "Well, nothing we can do but go down and hope to find the others..." He started down, and Kalerin followed him. As they walked down the staircase slowly, Kalerin took a look behind him and his breath caught. "Come on! The steps are disappearing behind us!" Shoji looked over his shoulder and noticed that everytime they took a step down, several above would disappear so at this rate there were only 3 steps left before the one they were on. They broke into a run, and barely managed to make it down the stairs without tripping. As their feet touched the ground, there was nothing behind them anymore. They examined the surroundings and found themselves in a swamp just like when they had first gotten to the Makai. Kalerin had an unusual expression on his face, Shoji now noticed. His companion now clutched his hand in fear and apprehension. "This is from my dream! The one I told you about, with the monster and the bird..." He looked towards the left, and clung closer to Shoji, whimpering as if in pain.

Shoji looked, and was stunned. "Oh, my..." He couldn't finish as he now saw a ruined temple that once looked exquisite. He put an arm around Kalerin to comfort him. After several moments, Kalerin was settled somewhat that he could think rationally. "There was something weird about the water, if I remember...," he said distantly, and plucked a twig from a nearby tree. He stuck it into the water, and snatched it away when the twig was beginning to be sucked into the water. He and Shoji both stared as the part that he had stuck into the water was now solid gold. Kalerin threw the stick away in disgust.

Shoji shrugged, "I guess the only thing we can do is to follow this path." He pointed towards the ruined temple, where there was an almost faint path leading away from it. "Will you be okay?" He asked Kalerin, who was looking slightly pale by now. Kalerin took a deep breath, and nodded, determination in his eyes. They set off down the little path, and had been walking for some distance when Kalerin stopped with a horrified look in his eyes. "I hear..." He pulled Shoji's hand and made him run down the path. "Come on, it's getting closer!" Shoji could hear it now, it was a horrible sound of an animal roaring like a lion and it was coming right after them.

They ran as fast as they could, but the beast was sounding like it was coming closer. Then Kalerin stopped suddenly, and it was only his grip on Kalerin's hand that stopped Shoji from falling into the water, which was now surrounding them on all sides. The monster burst through the bushes, and indeed it was a monster, seeming to be a lion mixed with a bear, a very huge bear. Shoji gripped his kodachi as he pulled it from its soya. As the thing lunged at them, he swung it with all of his might, but the monster only growled as it sailed overhead, not appearing to be fazed. There was an explosion of pain, and Shoji fell to his knees, staring in shock at the three deep claw marks now tracing down his arm. The beast growled more fiercely, and circled them, staring at them warily. Kalerin picked him up, putting Shoji's uninjured arm around his shoulders and took out his own staff, preparing to try to defend them both.

A sudden thought made him look around, realizing that this was the same place that he saw in the dream. 'Wait a minute, then there ought to be a bird...' he thought, and looked up. Sure enough, there was indeed a bird, the same golden bird that was leading him on in the dream. "Shoji, you have to trust me on this, just keep looking up, don't look down at the water!" Kalerin said urgently to his companion. Shoji, who was trying to fight the pain in his arm, turned to look at him wearily. "What?" He whispered, and struggled to stand upright. "We can't... We'll fall in..."

Kalerin shook his head. "Just trust me on this, I'd rather try then get you hurt again. What would Yusuke say to me then?" Shoji looked up and saw no bird, so he turned to say something and saw the grin on Kalerin's face. He managed a small smile of his own, trusting his companion, and bracing himself to keep looking skywards, nodded.

Kalerin nodded himself, and praying to all the gods he knew of, took the first step off the solid ground as he stared at the bird. Expecting to sink into the water, he was very surprised to feel something solid under his feet. He barely managed to keep himself from looking down, and continued. Shoji was gripping the kodachi in his injured hand, he could feel the warm blood trickling down his arm. He made himself look upwards, even though the beast behind them sounded like it was about to leap again. They kept walking, however, Kalerin still following the bird only he could see. One final growl came from behind them, and Shoji readied himself to turn, when there was a loud splash. Water erupted behind them, drenching them both. Shoji almost turned to look, but Kalerin pulled him on.

As they walked on, Shoji was getting tired, each step made his arm explode with pain, and could feel himself weakening, when Kalerin made a small gasp of astonishment, Shoji felt the touch on his hand, and looked towards Kalerin, then glanced about in the same direction he was. They were standing on a small island surrounded by all the cursed water with no other land in sight. Kalerin pointed towards and then headed for the only thing on the island, a torii(shrine entrance). It stood out brightly red against the darkening sky, and in the opening it made, nothing could be seen, it was all black. Kalerin and Shoji each took a deep breath, and resolving themselves, Kalerin helped Shoji into the torii...

*******

"Congratulations!!" The shout echoed from all around them. Kalerin stood still, and Shoji tiredly raised his head to find out what was going on. He froze as if hit with ice cold water, the pain in his arm forgotten for the moment. They were back in the hotel room. It was still the same as they had left it some days ago, only now it was filled with people, the same people that they had met in that bar room. Koenma was there, as was Botan, Hiei, Kuwabara(who was holding the hand of a small girl with light blue hair), a youthful-looking man with long red hair, and... "Yusuke" Shoji whispered. His bracelet was now ringing in his ears with the force of an alarm bell, and he remembered that he was still injured as the pain renewed itself.

Koenma came towards them, and shook each of their hands(in Shoji's case, his other hand). "I must congratulate each of you in the progress you both made. I can now make you both Reikai Tantei, and as befitting both of your progress, you are now kitsune Level Two, with new and stronger powers as well as another tail added on when you transform."

Shoji, who now forgot about his arm again as he heard this, stared at him, one hand upraised with the index finger pointed, as if he was going to say something. His mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came from him. Finally, he swallowed, said "Excuse me..." softly, and slowly walked into his room, closing the door with a firm click. There was no warning before a muffled scream could be heard coming from the room, as well as the sound of books being flung about. Yusuke, Botan and Koenma all winced. "Well, it looks like Kalerin is taking it better..." Koenma said, but stopped short when he glanced at Kalerin to see him turned into a fox and was chasing his two new silver tails. Incoherent muttering in the kitsune language was coming from him, and he continued this for quite a while.

"Kalerin..." The long red-haired man looked at him curiously, and Kalerin stopped, turning back into a human. He panted and tried to catch his breath. "You..." he said when he could talk. "There's something familliar..." His eyes widened, and he stared, "You're Kurama! But, what happened? You arn't a kid anymore." Kurama looked apologetic. "I'm sorry we had to put you both through that, but it was necessary so we could train you and make you a part of our team." He turned towards Shoji's room, where it was now ominously quiet, then to Yusuke. "Don't you think you should be telling him this too? After all, he did put himself through this for you too as well as me..." He said with a smirk. Yusuke shook himself, and grimaced. "All right, but if I don't come out in one piece, it's your fault..."

There was a knock on the door, but Shoji didn't turn around, knowing who it was. He stayed where he was near the bed, still shaking slightly in anger and pain, his eyes focused on the picture near the bed. He could hear the door open and close, but he ignored it.

"Shoji...?" Yusuke said shakily, glancing at the books that had been thrown against the far wall, Shoji's trenchcoat was lying on a chair, still wet and torn from the ordeal Shoji had just gone through. Good, at least this meant that Shoji would not take off his head with the kodachi... Then he looked at the person who was holding his injured arm with the other, refusing to look at him. His clothes and hair were still wet and dirty and stained with blood from the wounds on his upper arm, making Yusuke feel somewhat more guilty. Yusuke, who didn't feel like having the ensuing argument heard all over the team's room, punched a small button that made the room soundproof. Then he carefully approached his younger charge. "Shoji...? He tried again.

The low voice made Yusuke wince again, "Why? Why was I put through all of this, I thought you were dead, or angry at me for losing Kurama at least... And all of it was a test?" Shoji turned enough so that Yusuke could see a dark blue eye gazing at him. Yusuke came closer, and put a hand on Shoji's shoulder, making him flinch at the touch. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have led you both on like that, but it was the only way we could test you both in order to make you part of our team. But some of it wasn't part of the test..." His brown eyes filled with sadness, and he looked away. "Yusuke..." Shoji's voice made him look at his new teammate, and saw tears as well as anger in the turquoise eyes. "Why?" He repeated, as the tears started to fall. "Was this a test too?" Shoji grated as he held up the bracelet on his uninjured arm.

Yusuke shook his head, and sat down on Shoji's bed. He looked up earnestly at Shoji as he pulled out something green out of his pocket, "That hasn't changed, I still feel the same for you as I did the first day I met you." He took Shoji's arm, kissing his hand, and passed the leaf over it after crushing it in his hands. Shoji felt a stinging pain more intense then the gashes on his arm were making for an instant, then his arm went numb. He stared at it as the claw marks healed themselves, then at Yusuke, who was still sitting on the bed. His arm was losing the numbness as he sat down next to Yusuke. "There now, do you feel--" Yusuke never got to finish as Shoji pulled him close and kissed him soundly. After some time, Yusuke breathed deeply as Shoji kissed his neck. "I'd really... like it if you could..." He trembled as Shoji hit a particularly sensitive spot. "Be my partner..." He barely finished in a whisper as Shoji smiled at him. "Of course, I would love to..." His lips caught Yusuke's again, and they both knew Yusuke would not be seeking his own rooms tonight...

******

After getting calmed down, and making himself finally eat something(and when it appeared that Shoji would not kill Yusuke as some of the people had speculated), Kalerin settled down in his own room. He gazed happily at his treasures from the shopping trip with Shoji, and turned himself into a fox, as he was now feeling the effects of the trial he and Shoji had been in. He was about to fall asleep, his eyes were closed, when he heard something that startled him into alertness. A voice, Green's voice, he recognized, and he heard words echo in his mind. One line which stated, "You still owe me..." But he was too tired to think about it for more then a minute, and sleep claimed him.

The end(of this story anyway, there are other tales to be told... ^_^)