Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Mating ❯ Beginning of Problems ( Chapter 23 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

"The Mating"

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just borrowing, I don't own Mission Impossible either.

AN: Chapter title says it all. Feedback please. I'm putting out a plea for help from writer's block.

Chapter 23- Beginning of Problems

Chuu arrived the next morning before school started. Jin and Rinku followed him in. "What did ya' need?" Chuu asked.

Yusuke just said after humming the bars to the Mission Impossible theme, "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is in here." He opened the door to his mother's room, it still smelled of stale alcohol.

"Blimey, mate, who is this?" Chuu asked, he never had been terribly formal, and Yusuke never encouraged formalities.

"This, gentlemen, is my mother." He turned to Chuu. "I realize that nothing can really be done to change her, but I do want her to be happy. She keeps trying to find happiness in the bottom of bottles."

"That's no way to find happiness." Chuu replied.

"I' certainly isn't!" Jin seconded.

"Even I know that." Rinku added.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid Mom's happiness, if she ever was happy, probably ran out with my dad. Her binges are lasting longer, and she's gone longer. Chuu, I want you to take her with you to my castle in the Makai." Yusuke quietly told him.

"Do I have to wait til she wakes up?"

"You shouldn't have to. She's use to waking up in strange places."

"You know that she could die a lot quicker in the Makai, right?"

Yusuke only nodded. "But at least I know that she won't die amoung her own cronies. They are more than hopeless."

"Understood, mate." Chuu just hefted Atsuko onto his shoulder, fireman's carry style and carried her out. She started mumbling some kind of protest, but all it sounded like was a complaint that she was cold. Jin grabbed a blanket to cover her, as she had fallen asleep fully clothed. They could be heard down the corridor, "Ya know, Rinku, I've never seen anyone worse than me before."

"Yeah, I know. And you only drink to get stronger."

"Yep. This sheela needs a few lessons in drinkin'."

The next day at lunch, Yusuke turned to Moya, "So, how is it that you have a Japanese name? You don't, pardon the question, look Japanese."

Moya flushed. "I'm not truly Japanese. I was adopted by my uncle Takanaka when my parents died in a plane crash when I was only four. Uncle Takanaka is married to my mother's sister. My uncle teaches at Sarayashi Junior High."

"You're related to that Takanaka?" Yusuke replied, stunned. He had been the only teacher that he had respected, the closest thing he had ever had to a father figure, and also the only one of his teachers who had mourned his passing when he had died saving the kid from getting hit from a car.

"Do you know him?" Moya asked.

Keiko replied, "Yes, he does. I do too. We both went to that junior high school."

Moya chuckled. "I think I've heard of you, Yusuke. You always were my uncle's favorite delinquent. He always said that you were the student that he saw that if anyone needed a father, you did."

"Yeah, sounds like the old man." Yusuke replied almost fondly. "The scary part is that there are some times when I think I actually miss him."

The rest of the week passed in kind of a blur for the group. They settled into a comfortable routine for most of the rest of the week.

Moya joined them every day for lunch. She had taken up studying with Touya and Kurama, when Kurama wasn't busy with his mate. The other two found each other fascinating people and the group hoped that these two would become another happy couple in the group. They had gradually revealed themselves to her and been astonished when she simply took them at face value.

Botan and Yusuke could be seen occaisionally walking and talking. It was different between them, now that it wasn't all business. Yusuke was trying to give Botan the time she needed to adjust to the idea that she wouldn't be going back to Reikai, which was turning out to be a disturbing idea for her.

Things went smoothly for one week, with nothing major happening. Keiko and Shizuru's abilities were coming in. Shizuru, surprisingly, gaining some powers over flames. Nothing on par with her mate, but still respectable. She learned quickly how to control her body temperature so as to not affect the things around her, while still retaining the body temperature of a Fire Demon. Shizuru had not had any noticeable physical changes, which Hiei kept a very close eye on.

Keiko was gradually becoming more kitsune in appearance. Not only were her eyes completely gold now, her hair had also started changing. Wednesday morning, she woke up and in addition to her eyes, this morning she also had to put an illusion to hide the beginnings of her baby fine silver youko hair. It even had a different texture to it then her normal hair. Silkier, finer and definately stronger than her other, brown hair. Her tailbone started to get sore on Friday, and it had hurt to sit, until that night when she rolled over on her stomach, and Kurama had confirmed exactly what was going on. There was a barely perceptable bump on her tailbone, which was definately sensitive. Kurama grew several herbs and mixed them together, making a thick paste, which he then smeared over the affected area.

Hiei reported that her abilities were full youko, now her body had to match it. Her interior organs made the transition quickly and almost painlessly, making both of them wonder, but they didn't question the miracle. According to the journal, the organs should actually be more painful to change than the appearance, but again, most of those had been demons, and not an animal demon.

Keiko had also been feeling particularly tired that day. "Kurama, is there something wrong?"

Kurama thought for a minute and shook his head. "I don't think so. But your body is going through a difficult transformation right now, and it's possible that that could be the reason why you're tired."

"How did you know that I was tired?"

"Our mating bond. Your exhaustion is tugging at me, Keiko. I feel it as if I myself was tired, but I can tell, it isn't my exhaustion."

Keiko bowed her head, "I'm sorry. I seem to be a dead weight right now."

Kurama tilted her head up to look at him. At home, Keiko dropped all the illusions and he was able to look into her golden eyes and her brown hair liberally sprinkled with silver. Each day had seen more of the silver winking at him from the brown masses. He bent down and kissed her deeply. "You are not a dead weight. You are my mate and going though a difficult time. I didn't know what would happen when I mated with you fully. That's why I wanted to wait until we were at least out of High School. I thought this body of mine was fully human."

Keiko gave a weak laugh. "I guess that surprised only yourself and Hiei, then. Shizuru took one look at you and could tell you weren't human. Even Yusuke, who surprised me during the Dark Tournament, as that was the first time that I had any indication that anything was going on, save for a few disappearances, was almost normal. You," She thought how to put it, "Never fit the word normal. You had this sad air about you, almost melancholy. You needed someone to love and had been alone for far too long."

Kurama wrapped his arms around her, just holding her. "I never did know just how you saw me back then. For the most part I had been wrapped up in my human mother. I owe her a great deal, Keiko. She took a selfish, uncaring youko and transformed his heart so that he could care. I looked around at my classmates and for the most part all I saw were students in the grip of teenage hormones. Had I still been that youko, I could have taken advantage of it. I didn't, by that point, I determined that I wanted love, not just a warm body. I felt so much relief when you told me that you loved me. You saw what I had been, you know a part of the stories. That is only the tip of a very large iceburg, Keiko. Some of my actions, I truly regret and wish that I could undo."

She didn't break the embrace, but did tip her head back so that she could look him in the eye. "Kurama, without everything you've done, good and bad, you'd never be the person that I fell in love with. You care about others. You try to help them. You're a fierce defender of all that you hold dear. You're a great teacher and if we were staying in the Ningenkai, I would encourage you to get a teaching certificate, but we have other duties waiting for our attention. However, I am sure that you will make a wonderful father to any children we have." She turned a little pink at this last, but held his eyes.

Kurama could feel a true smile cross his face. Normally he was a solemn person, unless his playful side dominated. He loved getting reactions out of people, then it was usually a chuckle, though a happy one. This time he felt true joy. The last time that he had felt this honestly happy was when he knew that his mother was going to live, followed by when he learned that Keiko loved him, too. "I guess that I'm going to have to learn to live with being happy. It has not been my usual state of being."

"I could tell." Keiko replied. "My love, the world does not rest on your shoulders, just the occaisional misplaced demon. We haven't even had too many of those around lately, though."

"No, there is almost always a lull in activity for the true criminals for about ten years after the tournament, sometimes almost as long as twenty. It's the one reason why I'm not pushing Koenma to pick a different Spirit Detective. I would be happier if we could find him a demon companion, though."

"What about Touya? It's obvious that you guys all trust him. And didn't I hear that he wanted to stay in the Ningenkai? For at least a while?" Keiko asked.

"Keiko, what would I do without you?" Kurama asked.

"Probably worry yourself to death. However, I love talking to you, but I'm beat."

"I understand. We'll see how you feel tomorrow morning and go from there." Kurama laid them both down on the bed. He gave her a soft kiss on her forehead and said, "Sleep, my love."

Keiko, even with the exhaustion pulling at her, asked, "No love tonight?"

Kurama shook his head. "You are feeling poorly. When you are feeling better, then we will once again make love."

Keiko sighed, but nodded her agreement. She curled up to her mate, laying on her side so as to avoid laying on the sensitive beginnings of her tail.

*********Saturday morning************

Keiko woke up, feeling as if she hadn't rested at all. Her tailbone, soon to be her tail, hurt and in general, exhaustion pulled at her even more than it had last night.

Kurama woke up and was instantly beside her. "Roll onto your stomach, love."

Keiko nodded, then wrinkled her nose as he smeared the smelly concoction over the offended area that was slightly more sensitive than it had been yesterday. "Ew! That smells awful!"

Kurama just said, "Yes, it does, but it also works. Your nose is more sensitive this morning, did you know that?"

"Is that why I can smell six dozen different things? Mostly coming from that concoction? Though roses and morning mist seem to be mixed into the smells."

"And more distantly, as your nose gets better, you'll be able to smell Hiei from a mile away, he carries a strong pine scent, Shizuru's softer smelling, and mostly Ningen still." He finished the application and rolled her to her side. "The morning mist, by the way, is you, love."

"I can smell myself? That's usually a bad sign, Kurama."

"Not with youkai. How you smell is very important in the Makai. There are many nuances, and they all determine how you are treated. It is also a very handy trick when separating the surroundings from danger." Kurama explained.

"This I might need lessons in, but right now, I think I need more sleep." Just then her stomach growled. "Okay, eat, then sleep."

"Can you come down for breakfast?" Kurama asked.

"I think so, but if I can just throw on a robe or a dress, I'll be fine."

Kurama grabbed a bathrobe out of their closet and tossed it to her.

Keiko sat up, putting it on her as she stood. She tied the belt at her waist, securing it. "Come on. I don't think I'm going to be awake for very long."

Kurama only nodded, feeling her exhaustion even clearer this morning. He put on a bathrobe himself, and followed her down to the kitchen.

Hiei and Shizuru were already there, as was the rest of the family.

"Hn, late night, Fox?" Hiei asked, though he knew that his ears would have heard anything like that.

"No, Hiei. I wish it had only been that." Kurama replied, even as Keiko blushed. "I wanted to know if you could use your abilities to determine if this is part of her transformation." It was more of a comment than a question.

Hiei nodded. "It was two weeks ago, correct?"

Kurama nodded. "To the day."

"Her body's in a hurry." Hiei replied. "This transformation is what's causing her tiredness. It's also utilizing most of her youki to do it. She has energy depletion on top of her body changing."

Kurama quickly processed the information. "Thank you, Hiei. I'll have to see what I can do about the youki depletion. The exhaustion's bad enough, but this would add to her tiredness."

"Okay, boys, what are you talking about?" Shizuru asked. She had taken up calling them boys anytime they seemed to just go off and forget that anyone else was there. Wasn't often, and it was only when they were talking about things in terms only they understood. This was her way of saying, 'okay, now that the two of you have conferred, maybe you can translate that?'

Hiei turned to his mate. "Keiko's body is changing into a youko's."

"Yeah, I got that some time ago." Shizuru replied.

Kurama took up the explanation. "Our bodies don't produce reiki, which is human spirit energy, which you still produce, Keiko stopped producing it almost immediately. Her body is very tired right now from changing from a ningen body to a youko body. Primarily what it's doing is draining her youki, demon spirit energy, in order to facilitate the change."

"That has me worried, Fox. If Shizuru's still producing reiki, granted, she can do virtually anything that I can do without my Jagan, but not producing youki, is there something wrong?"

"I don't think so, but I would worry about her being even more tired, because her body will be draining it as quickly as her body produces it." Kurama told him.

"I understand. We probably have two days before your condition is similar to Keiko's, Shizuru. I suggest we make the time count." Hiei told her.

"I'll have to notify work. I did give them a two-week notice, considering that I would be moving. That's what I told work, as well. That I would have to relocate due to my emergency leave." Shizuru said.

Kurama got up to get both Keiko and himself breakfast, it looked like it was going to be a while before they could get back into a routine. He came back with two plates from the kitchen. Pancakes, bacon and a small bowl of fruit balanced on the edge of the plates. He deftly set one down and then the other, serving first Keiko and then himself.

"So, what's going on?" Shiori asked, concerned for Keiko who looked like she hadn't slept at all. She had missed the conversation, watching the news.

Hiei and Shizuru quickly gave her a summary as they had finished eating.

There was a knock on the door shortly there after.

Shiori quickly rose. "I'll get it."

Hiei stopped her. "It's a youkai, let me."

Shiori nodded.

Hiei stepped to the door, knowing that anyone else with youkai hearing would be able to hear every word. Opening it, he asked, "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"I only have a message from masters Mukuro and Yomi." Was the reply.

"Come in, and behave yourself." Hiei told him. As the humaniod looking youkai followed him into the kitchen/dining area, he said, "Now, what is this message?"

"The turmoil is getting worse. They are not sure how long they can keep a lid on this. On the other hand, Yusuke's lands are almost eerily quiet."

"That's because Yusuke left some very good people in charge." Shizuru told him. "However, we are currently tied down, until Keiko and I are full demon."

Kurama told the messanger, "Tell Yomi that I will be there as soon as possible to try to stabilize Gandistra. Also tell Yomi that we've determined exactly who the enemy is, and we might need all the allies we can get. I myself have some old allies that I would trust in this kind of a situation. No one wants what is coming our way. In the meantime, my mate requires my attention."

Hiei nodded at that assessment. "I don't know about any old allies, but I know for a fact that most of the warlords under Mukuro and myself would not want this either. Go inform Yusuke of this as well. If you need to, have Yomi and Mukuro try to get some help from Yusuke's castle guard."

"Yes, Lord Hiei." The youkai bowed and left.

Kurama looked concerned. "This is happening at a very fast rate, considering just how often the Makai changes."

"The social structure has always been the same." Hiei told him.

Shizuru followed the situation. "Okay, so let me get this straight. You two are actually defending the social structure that caused both of you to be unfeeling bastards?"

Keiko just shook her head tiredly. "Is it just me, or does this situation make no sense?"

Kurama told her, "You are right, both of you. We should be trying to tear down the structure in the Makai as well. But for now, we are being forced to defend that very same position. We will be tearing it down, to a certain extent, but we cannot do that in the midst of chaos which is only reinforcing the bad situation and not reinforcing the traits we need to be bringing in."

"The Fox is correct. We cannot bring in new values when everyone is running for their lives." Hiei just said stoically.

"You do have a point." Shizuru told them. "How are we going to help?"

Shiori just looked at the two women who now lived with them. "Help? With this kind of danger going on?"

"Sure. Don't you realize that I am just as tough as Hiei is?" Shizuru wrinkled her nose when the smell from the smoke started to irritate it. "Gah! How did I manage to smoke this foul smelling thing?"

Hiei shook his head. "It was beyond me, but it sounds like your nose is getting more sensitive."

"This is a bad moment to quit. My body is going through enough changes on it's own without this." Shizuru replied.

Kurama told her, "Do you know why no youkai smoke? Even with the anxiety levels and such where they are in the Makai?"

Shizuru shook her head, "No, I don't."

"Our noses are too sensitive." Kurama replied.

Shizuru shook her head. "Well, we'll see how it goes." She shrugged and put her cigarette out as she sneezed.

The remainder of breakfast was spent in silence.

Keiko was once again trying to stay awake and not having much luck. She stayed awake through breakfast, her stomach wouldn't let her do anything else. She had also found herself ravenous. Kurama had tried to persuade her to go back to bed, but Keiko had declined.

There was a second knock on the door. Shiori looked over at Hiei, who nodded that she could open it.

Touya came in, with Moya, Yusuke, Botan, Yukina and Kuwabara.

Yusuke looked at Keiko and couldn't repress the question, "What happened to you?"

"Yusuke, any more, and you'll be asking what happened to you!" She didn't sound quite as fierce as she might have with her voice sounding like she was on the verge of falling asleep, but it still did get the results she was looking for. Yusuke winced.

"Please pardon my mate's behavior, we've been pestering her to go back to bed for a half hour now." Kurama explained on Keiko's behalf.

The two were sitting on the love seat, watching the morning cartoons. Keiko was snuggled up against Kurama's side, which seemed like her favorite spot to be of late.

"We had been wondering if you four would like to go to the park and discuss this new information that we recieved this morning." Yusuke asked.

"I don't think it would be a good idea. Keiko doesn't have the necessary youki to disguise her appearance." Kurama replied.

"Well, then you can do it for me!" Keiko responded tartly. "I can't stay cooped up in here!"

Moya noticed that Keiko had gold eyes and that silver was liberally sprinkled through her hair. Once again, she just filed it away for information.

Touya liked the way that Moya's eyes never missed a thing, but she also never seemed to forget anything, either, a constant studier of what was going on around her. She also never said much, unless it was very pertenant. In so many ways she complimented himself. He sighed quietly.

Moya turned to him. "What's wrong, Touya?"

He turned his ice-blue eyes to her. Kurama hadn't had time to put his illusion over Touya, so he still had his pupilless eyes. Moya had known that he was a youkai, and that he was not as powerful as the others, save for Yukina and Kuwabara. "Just thinking."

"Of what?" Moya asked him. The two watched as Kurama and Keiko went upstairs to get dressed. Kuwabara and Yukina settled on the loveseat that had been so recently vacated. Hiei and Shizuru were ensconced on the window seat. Yusuke and Botan sat on the couch in a casual kind of way.

"It's too soon to tell, really. Just a hope." Touya replied.

"I had always thought that Kurama had been cryptic before, but you are trying to top him." Moya replied with a bit of humor in her voice.

"I apologize for that. I do not mean to be cryptic. All I meant was that I can only hope at this point. Hope is too precious where I come from."

"Touya, you are not the only one to have ever been lonely. I too, have often been lonely in a crowd. I was always on the fringe of any group. Keiko had her studies, and friends. Kurama had whatever he had to keep him occupied, I had my books."

"No wonder you are such a good student." Touya replied.

"Yes, and bored. You guys are the first exciting thing to happen to me since the last book I got at the bookstore." Moya added, more than a little put out.

"So, are we only a source of amusement?"

"No, you guys are also the only one's around that aren't hormone laden teenagers who are just looking for the next thing to jump into their pants, skirts, whatever."

"Does that mean that you are not interested in a relationship?" Touya asked, sounding a bit crestfallen to the demons in the room, though the humans couldn't tell.

"Not necessarily, I just refuse to get involved in a relationship that someone is just looking for a good time." Moya replied.

Touya relaxed. "I'm glad."

"You can't be interested in me." She was incredulous. She watched the two pairs of mates in the room. They had explained what mates were and what was going on with Keiko and Shizuru. She hadn't spent a whole lot of time around Shizuru, as schoolwork had taken up most of her time and Hiei struck her as a loner type. He was within the group, but on the fringe.

Touya never took his eyes off of the group, "You've managed to rouse my curiosity, and with youkai, that can be a dangerous thing."

"What if I court danger, sometimes?" Moya couldn't believe she was actually bantering with Touya. This was not like her at all. She was tired of living with the same rules for years and without living with any excitement.

Touya put his arm around her shoulders. "Just don't court too much. We will protect you, as far as we can, however there is much more going on here than anyone can see." He meant that as a sincere warning, too. Not that he didn't want to explore the possibilities with her, but he didn't want her to get hurt.

Moya recognized the warning for what it was. "Don't worry, I'll try not to."

"Thank you, Moya."

The rest of the group had quietly watched this interaction, and saw the position of Touya's arm. Most of them smiled, the only exception was Hiei, who was studying his mate and Keiko, who was dozing on Kurama's shoulder.

Moya looked around and realized that they were the focus of attention. She blushed.

"Don't sweat it, Moya." Yusuke commented.

Botan just smiled brightly. "So, Touya, still thinking the way you were the other day?" She teased him lightly.

Touya just cooly responded, "I was teasing you that morning, Botan. You looked so flustered, and embarrassed. We all know that you and the lord have feelings for each other."

Everyone watched as Botan turned bright red while Yusuke just yelled, "What!"

"Come now, Detective, you don't think you were fooling us, were you?" Hiei asked.

Kurama just gave Yusuke a stern look. "Yusuke, if you value your person at all, I would kindly like you to keep your voice down, if you please."

Moya was surprised when that completely shut up the loudest mouth in the area. "Is Kurama really that dangerous?"

Touya only nodded.

"If we are not to move to the park, as Keiko is unable to travel that far, how about we just move to the back yard? That will also help ease Keiko's cabin fever." Kurama told them.

The rest of them readily agreed and Kurama sent his mother to get Shuuichi, since they would also be discussing his training regimen. Kurama had taught him some dealing with the gymnastics that he had admired so much, and Hiei had shown him a bit of the swordsmanship, but they had yet to find anything the boy truly excelled at. Touya was going to give him a little training to see if he fit in with any of the ice demon's abilities. Kurama gently carried Keiko out to the back yard.

"Yukina, I hate to ask you this, but can you or Botan make sure that nothing is wrong?" Kurama asked as he laid Keiko down in the recently hung hammock.

"No healing?" Hiei asked sharply.

Kurama shook his head, "I would not endanger her or the twins, Hiei. I only wish to know that nothing is going wrong."

Moya just asked, "Twins?"

"Sorry about that." Yusuke apologized. "I keep forgetting that demonic lore is not taught in the school systems."

Kurama chuckled at Yusuke's comment, but went on to explain. "As a koorime, Yukina became pregnant when she mated and koorime always have twins."

"Oh." Moya replied faintly. She watched as Yukina and Botan stood next to Keiko, examining her. "So she's not as young as she looks, is she?"

"My sister is the same age as I am," Hiei stated. "I will only add that if we were human, we would have died a very long time ago, but we are still young by demon standards."

"So why are you picking humans to mate with, then? You must have much more experience then we do." Moya asked, even as she rested against Touya, noticing for the first time how cool his skin was.

"That is part of the problem." Kurama asked. "Hiei, Yukina and Touya are all much younger than I am. Touya is in fact older then Hiei and Yukina, but still younger than I. The younger the demon, usually the more trustworthy the demon. Hiei and I both have a similar history, but for different reasons." He smiled at Moya, "Why mate with a human, other than that's who we fell in love with? I don't know about you, but I didn't even realize I was falling when I started to feel it."

Moya said, "Nice speach, but you didn't answer my question."

"He did not intend to." Touya told her.

"Why not?" Moya asked.

"Because that would reveal the single most important thing that we wish to change in the Makai. Demons do not trust easily. What you see here is actually quite rare. Three S-class demons working together to try to fix a single major situation." Kurama explained.

"Fox, I think you lost her. We explained demons, but we didn't explain strength levels." Hiei told Kurama.

Yusuke just shook his head. "We didn't, did we? You know, this is a bit different. Usually, I'm the one asking you two questions. Now I've got some answers, too." He turned to Moya, "There are several levels of power within demons that are called classes. These classes are categorized by letters. S is as high as you can go, followed by A, B, C and so forth getting lower with each level."

Touya just nodded when Moya looked at him incredulously. "Kurama, Hiei and Yusuke are S-class. Yukina and myself are A-class."

Hiei told her, "We are not just part of the food chain, we are at the top of the food chain."

Moya looked around with new eyes. She had always known this group was dangerous, but she had never realized how dangerous they were. "Oh."

"Yeah, kiddo, oh." Shizuru remarked. "You now know that you're sitting with three of the most feared beings in the entirety of the Makai."

"I am sorry if we kept that fact from you, Moya. It was not our actual intent." Kurama said to her. "It is just something that we don't bring up very often, primarily because we don't want the attention."

"Sounds a little too flippant. You, I can understand. Yusuke? He's the type who grabs all the attention." Moya replied.

Yusuke snorted. "Yeah, and let me tell you, Kurama's name is feared a lot more than mine. Though his name does ring more bells when you call him just Youko."

"Detective, I suggest you curb your tongue." Hiei warned, seeing the gold come to the forefront in Kurama's gaze.

"Yusuke," Kurama said in his tone that brooked no argument. "I suggest you listen to Hiei. Do not provoke me. Not that I wish to kill you or anything, however my mate is going through a tricky change at the moment and thus my temper is not exactly predictable."

"Sorry, Kurama."

"Yusuke," Hiei said, a rare moment of actually using his name, "In a few days, both of us might be at our wits' end over here. It would be best if after today, you either give us warning that you're coming over, or you just don't come over until our mate's conditions stabilize. Shizuru has about two more days by my estimate and then her condition will be similar to Keiko's." He looked over at his sister and Botan, who were discussing something. "What are you two talking about?"

Yukina turned to face her brother. "Keiko is mostly suffering from youki depletion at this point in time." She turned to Kurama, "You might want to make some kela about once a day, and that should help her."

"Thank you Yukina." Kurama told her.

Moya just asked, "What's kela?"

"A special dish, made to encourage the body to produce more youki." Yukina said, "It should also help Shizuru as her body converts from producing reiki to youki."

"Oh. What level are those two going to be when they transform?" Moya asked.

"We don't know yet." Hiei said shortly.

"Honestly wish that we could answer that." Yusuke told her.

Touya just shook his head. "So are we putting all investigation efforts aside until Keiko and Shizuru stabilize into their demon forms?"

"I am afraid that we must." Kurama replied. "I wish we could continue, however there are other considerations at play. Hiei and I shall be unstable until our mates finally settle into their demon forms."

Yusuke only nodded. "I understand. There are enough problems going on around us, we don't need anything else to go wrong."

Shizuru commented, "And thus the leader of the team has spoken."

"If you must. We have not been an official team since Reikai fired us, being too dangerous for them to control, or kill." Yusuke said.

Kurama's eyes burned. "Yusuke, Sensui's actions cemented the four of us into a team. You were willing to die for us and we were willing to die for you. Kuwabara was the closest to being an outcast then, and only because he was the only true human amoung us."

Hiei added, "Even so, Kuwabara was the one who managed to get us out of that creature who had us locked up. I do not always admire him, but he is my brother-in-law as ningens say."

"So what do we do now?" Shuuichi asked, who had just come out on the porch.

"Now?" Kurama asked, looking at his stepbrother. "Now, we try Touya and Yusuke. Actually, if Touya was amenable, I was going to ask Yusuke if Touya wanted to stay behind in the Ningenkai, to help you."

Touya gave a half-smile. "I should be fine. Jin can take care of himself, especially with Rinku there as backup. If the lord will spare my presence."

"Touya ," Yusuke growled. "That's it! I can't take the formality anymore!"

"Yusuke, did you just fire Touya?" Kurama asked with his own half smile.

"I guess I did." Yusuke replied.

"Touya, you are being offered employment, with me." Kurama promptly told the ninja.

"Thank you. I shall do my best." Touya replied. "Guess I'll have to explain to Jin how I managed to get fired."

"We'll still team you two up, I'm not expecting to war with Kurama, or Hiei. The most we'll do is spar with each other to test each others skills." Yusuke corrected him. "I just shifted you to Kurama, who knows how you work and can deal with you."

"In which case, I can look forward to more of a stay in the Ningenkai than I expected." Touya said. "Or at least, I can assume so, correct, Lord Kurama?"

"Indeed, Touya. You don't have to worry about the formalities with me, but I can deal with it, unlike our fearless leader." Kurama told him.

"Oh, goodness! You guys are such children sometimes!" Botan exclaimed. "So, I can come over when school allows and help out."

"No offense, onna," Hiei said, "I do not think that our frayed tempers will be able to tolerate anyone else in our presence."

Kurama nodded. "Keiko's tail is proving to be painful coming in and it only started yesterday. I can numb the affected area, but it's still not completely working. I do not know what else will happen, but I can tell you this much, I will not be terribly helpful, or predictable."

"Hn, I do not know what Shizuru's reactions will be, but if it is similar to Keiko's, I shall be even more bad tempered than I normally am."

"But then who am I going to get to help me with my homework!" Botan exclaimed.

"Relax," Moya told her, "I can always give you, and Touya a hand with your homework when necessary. I am in many of Kurama's classes, so we should be able to do this."

"Oh, very well. How are we going to explain their disappearance?" Botan replied.

"I don't think we can." Yusuke replied. "What are we supposed to tell the principle's office? Sorry, sir, Keiko's body is in the process of changing into a demon. She'll be back as soon as her body's done." He added with a more sarcastic edge.

Kurama told them, "I can get my mother to write me an excuse, but that will not work for Keiko. Her parents will probably be informed by the school."

"Hn, Fox, are you sure that's wise? After Keiko's father disowned her, I would not rely on her parents for much, other than her mother." Hiei asked.

"I cannot see any way around it, Hiei." Kurama replied.

"Wait just a minute!" Yusuke replied, getting angry, "What's this about her father disowning her?"

Keiko woke up from her doze, briefly wondering why she was laying outside, but not questioning it. She knew this was much better then being inside. In a sad voice, she said, "It's true, Yusuke. He tried to come between Kurama and myself. I panicked."

"Keiko." Yusuke replied softly.

"I've come to accept it, Yusuke. It still hurts, but a choice between my mate and my parents, it wasn't a choice."

"Yeah, I understand." Yusuke told her.

"My mother accepted it. Ask Kurama or Hiei if you want details. I still can't relive that afternoon." Keiko turned away from the group.

Kurama just stood. "Excuse me, but can you all move to the park? Hiei, maybe you can inform them of what happened that Sunday afternoon."

"Hn. Cheer up your mate, Fox."

"I plan to."

Hiei stood, "Let us all go to the park. The Fox and his mate need some privacy. I suggest not bringing the subject up again after this, unless she does."

The rest of them followed Hiei's lead, watching Kurama join Keiko in the hammock, picking her up and holding her against him.

Hiei explained what happened with Keiko's parents two weeks past. Yusuke seemed to know Keiko's father rather well, and so took this easier than Hiei had expected he would. Kuwabara was upset on Keiko's behalf, but promised not to do anything. They also discussed what would happen with Shuuichi's training. Touya liked the boy and Moya started helping Botan, laughing when she realized which teacher she had for the class that was giving Keiko so much trouble and assured her that everyone in the school knew that he was worthless.

The following week found Shizuru and Keiko both constantly exhausted. Touya fended off several questions concerning his 'cousin' while the whole group was bombarded with questions concerning Keiko.

To be continued . . .