Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Season of the Crystal Feather ❯ The Wonders of Marshmallows ( Chapter 11 )

The wonders of marshmallows:

Thorn had led the group back to her house to pick up some things she had forgotten. She was now running around the house gathering things into a backpack as the others stood and watched. She had packed rope, a book about mushrooms, some spoons, a pencil, and a small TV.

"Where the hell did you get a TV?" Yusuke asked as he pointed at it.

Thorn grinned, "Youko went on a rampage and stole basically everything from Koenma's office a while back."

Yusuke and the others turned to stare at Kurama. Kurama rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously. Thorn nodded, "Yup, Youko blamed Koenma for Harmony's disappearance."

"You'd think he would've gotten caught..." Hinote pointed out.

Thorn shook her head, "Nope! Harmony had given us the floor plans of Koenma's castle so he knew every escape route and place to hide."

"So basically this Harmony person was a traitor?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama glared, "No, she just wasn't very happy with Koenma."

"So she told one of the most wanted criminals in Makai all the secrets of Koenma's castle? I still say she's a traitor." Yusuke shrugged.

Kurama shot him a death glare, "She wasn't a traitor..."

"Yusuke, you're making Kurama mad. What the hell is wrong with you?" Autumn asked.

Yusuke glared, "Why don't you ask yourself that question. You're the one that has sanity issues."

"Watch it, detective. I have undeniable photographical proof that while you sleep you hug a white plush toy rabbit named 'Mr. Fuzzles' that you've had since you were 6! Don't try and deny it because it's undeniable proof!" Autumn pointed at Yusuke accusingly.

Yusuke's eyes widened, "HOW'D YOU FIND OUT ABOUT MR. FUZZLES?!"

"Um...I was making all of that up..." Autumn blinked.

Yusuke laughed nervously, "Oh...um...I don't know what you're talking about...I don't have a white plush toy rabbit..."

"Yusuke sleeps with a white rabbit toy!" Flash pointed at him and started laughing hysterically.

Yusuke glared and yelled, "Mr. Fuzzles is not white! He's pink! I mean...eh....damn..."

"Ha! And I thought Kuwabara's obsession with kittens was bad!" Autumn started laughing hysterically.

Yusuke glared at her. He then turned his glare to Flash, Hinote, Kuwabara and Thorn who were also laughing. Kurama was trying his best not to laugh and Hiei was hiding his amusement with the ease of someone that has spent hours in front of a mirror perfecting an emotionless face. Terminator was making a mental note of ways to torment the humans. Freckles was busy trying to eat the carpet. Tundra was watching in amusement.

Thorn smiled as she closed up her bag, "Well, I've got everything we could possibly need! Let's get going."

"Do you have marshmallows?" Kuwabara asked.

Thorn blinked, "Marshmallows?"

"How can you not know what marshmallows are?!" Autumn yelled.

Flash and Hinote groaned. Flash glared at Kuwabara, "You just had to mention marshmallows, didn't you?"

"Marshmallows are the most miraculous munchable food things ever invented in the history of munchies!" Autumn held up a picture of a marshmallow on a pedestal with a golden holy glow around it.

"These tiny multipurpose white things made of no natural ingredients and loaded with sugar and things to rot your teeth and ruin your health can be eaten in many ways. If you cook them over an open flame that gives off smoke which causes your lungs to turn black and sparks which can set flammable things such as clothes on fire they get all mushy inside and can be put on a graham cracker along with chocolate in order to make a Smore!" Autumn held up a picture of a stick figure on fire running around holding a stick with a marshmallow on it. She held up a picture of a marshmallow that had a plus sign followed by a picture of a graham cracker followed by another plus sign, a picture of chocolate, an equal sign, and finally a picture of a Smore.

"They can also be colored and put into a bowl of cereal to make it an unhealthy yet visually appealing part of this complete breakfast!" Autumn held up a picture of a bowl of cereal with colorful marshmallow shapes in it, a plate with toast, a glass of orange juice, and some eggs.

"To not know what a marshmallow is...that's an insult to the entire population of children that are being brainwashed into buying sugary cereals by the happy cartoon mascots on the TV commercials they play during Saturday morning cartoons! This is an insult to all those pathetic children out there whose lives absolutely revolve around the sweet, sugary taste of these pillow soft miracle food snacks!" Autumn continued.

"She's talking about herself, right?" Hinote asked Flash. Autumn's shoe was promptly thrown at Hinote's head.

"And in conclusion...! We can cook these marshmallows I brought with me from home!" Autumn grinned as she pulled a large bag of marshmallows out of her backpack and held them up for the others to see.

Yusuke pointed, "Why do you have a bag of marshmallows?"

"Idiot, if you have to ask why Autumn is carrying a bag of marshmallows around, then you're not paying attention." Flash said to the detective.

Kurama coughed to get everyone's attention, "This might be a good time to remind all of you that we are limited on time in which to complete this mission..."

"Ok, I want a show of hands. Is anyone else confused about what he just said?" Yusuke asked.

Kuwabara raised his hand. The others stared at them like they were idiots, which they most likely are. Thorn turned to the others, "I say we ignore them and leave."

"I agree with that plan." Flash announced.

Thorn led everyone outside of her house, "I think we should stop at the inn in town. By the time we get there it would be almost dark and besides, it's on the way."

"What about Kurama and Hiei? There are a lot of demons that want them dead. Koenma even said it was too dangerous for us to go into that town." Autumn pointed out in a serious tone.

Hinote moved away from her, "Gah! Autumn's being serious! The world is coming to an end!"

"Ha-ha, very funny." Autumn rolled her eyes.

Kurama smiled, "I assure you we can take care of ourselves."

"They could always wear disguises..." Flash suggested.

Autumn pictured Kurama wearing a pink dress with a white apron over it, high-heeled shoes, and a yellow ribbon in his curled hair. She also pictured Hiei wearing a Snow White type dress and blushing. She started laughing hysterically. The others stared at her.

"What's she thinking about?" Yusuke asked.

Hinote shook his head, "Knowing her...We don't want to know."

"Yeah, Hinote's probably right." Flash nodded.

"I wonder if anyone's noticed we're not around..." Autumn mused.

Hinote shrugged, "Well, my family probably hasn't noticed I'm not there."

"My family knows I'm gonna be gone for a while." Flash said.

The group turned to Autumn. Autumn thought for a moment, "Well, my mom's not going to be home for a while and she told me to find somebody's house to stay at or something...Alright, we're now officially on a camping trip to discover the wilderness."

"Like she's going to believe that." Hinote rolled his eyes.

"If you guys agree, then yes, she will. And it's not really a lie because technically we are going to wind up camping...and we've got marshmallows! W00T!!!" Autumn spun in a circle happily, "Just thinking about them makes me hyper!"

Flash hit her over the head with the metal pipe that she had taken back from her earlier, "No hyper for you."

"Ow...Baka neko..." Autumn grumbled as she rubbed her head.

Flash glared at Autumn, "What...did....you....just...call...me...?"

"Eh..." Autumn looked nervously at her friend.

Yusuke frowned, "Why'd she call you a baka neko?"

"I knew that's what you said!!" Flash yelled and glared at Autumn.

Autumn turned and ran away, "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!!! I HAVEN'T EATEN MY MARSHMALLOWS YET!!!!!!!!!!!"

"GET BACK HERE, ZASSHU (Mutt)!!!!!!!!!" Flash yelled as she chased after Autumn with the metal pipe.

The others were left standing where they were and blinking rapidly. Thorn shrugged, "Well, I guess this will get us to the tavern faster."

"We should make sure that Flash doesn't kill Autumn." Hinote pointed out, "After all, Autumn's the one with the marshmallows."

With that said, Hinote, Yusuke and Kuwabara took off after the girls. Tundra turned to Terminator and Freckles, "I'm confused."

"You know...I should be offended by what Autumn said, too..." Terminator pointed out.

Freckles shrugged, "Well, it's true. Cats are stupid."

"Take that back furball." Terminator glared at Freckles.

Freckles laughed nervously and started running away in the direction the others had run. Terminator took off after him while screaming curses and death threats. Tundra chased Terminator for the heck of it. That left Thorn, Hiei, and Kurama to stare in the direction the others had gone.

"I get the feeling that our lives are never going to be the same after this mission..." Kurama pointed out.

Thorn blinked, "Is that a good thing?"

"I haven't quite figured that out yet...." Kurama sighed.

"Well, let's go make sure your girlfriend lives to eat those marshmallows she's so fond of." Thorn smiled and took off running after the others.

"She's not my girlfriend!!!" Kurama yelled as he started chasing Thorn.

Hiei shook his head and sighed, "How did I ever get mixed up with these bakas...?"

The vertically challenged fire demon took off running after Kurama. He quickly caught up with him.

--Right outside the town that will remain nameless since the authoress is too lazy to name it:

With everyone running it had taken no time at all to get to the town. Hinote, Yusuke, and Kuwabara had had to hold Flash back in order to save Autumn's life. Autumn was thanking her lucky socks that she was alive (yes, her lucky socks). Freckles had run to Autumn and hid behind her from the wrath of the cat from hell. Terminator was sitting near Flash and glaring at Freckles. Tundra was scratching his ear with his hind leg. Thorn, Kurama and Hiei soon caught up with them.

"Well, let's go to the tavern!" Thorn announced happily and started leading everyone into town.

Autumn looked around as they walked. A lot of the demons in the town had stopped what they were doing to sneer at them. Some demons were yelling threats at them. A couple of demons recognized Hiei and Kurama and were yelling things at the "traitors". Young demons started throwing food at them.

"Gee, you can just feel the love..." Autumn said sarcastically.

"What are you talking about? They hate us!" Kuwabara said to her,

"I was being sarcastic, moron." Autumn replied.

Thorn seemed completely oblivious to the fact that rotten foods were being thrown at her little group. She was walking along smiling cheerily and humming a little tune. Kurama had his hands over his head in order to try and protect his precious hair from the rotten food. Hiei was shooting death glares at everyone. Yusuke and Kuwabara were dodging food. Autumn was trying to keep Freckles away from some of the vegetables that were thrown. Flash hit some random demon over the head with her pipe and from then on the food was aimed away from her and Terminator. Hinote was dodging food with Tundra.

"We're here!" Thorn announced as she stopped at the tavern doors. Kuwabara and Yusuke quickly pushed her inside. The others followed to get away from the rotten food as quickly as possible.

The demons in the tavern stopped their conversations in order to stare at the group. There were mostly male demons with various scars. They all looked like ruffians and criminals. The demons gave them cold glares. A lot of them were holding bottles of sake so it was obvious that most were drunk. Sitting at a stool near the bar was a kitsune wearing a long, dark blue coat, black pants, and black shoes. He had his arms folded on the bar table and his forehead resting on his arms. His light blue tail and ears looked almost silver in the poor lighting given off by candles around the tavern.

"Great. Drunken criminals that already hate us because of who we are..." Flash narrowed her eyes as she looked around the tavern.

Autumn moved closer to Kurama and whispered, "I don't like it here..."

"Don't worry." Kurama whispered back and gave her a reassuring smile.

Thorn turned to the others and said lowly, "I'm going to go talk to the bartender and see if he knows anything that could help us. You guys stay here and don't get into any trouble."

"Alright." Kurama nodded.

The demons soon resumed their conversations though a lot were still eyeing the group warily. Yusuke and Kuwabara started arguing over who would protect the girls if the demons decided to attack. Kurama and Hiei were ignoring the arguing boys. Flash and Autumn were standing next to each other with their backs to the rest of the tavern as they watched the arguing boys. Hinote and the animals were watching Thorn.

"Now what are two pretty little creatures like you doing hanging around with a group of guys like that?" A large, ugly, green-skinned demon with one eye asked as he came up behind Autumn and Flash and put his arms around their shoulders, pulling them closer to him. The boys stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the girls.

"Get away from them!" Kurama commanded.

The demon ignored Kurama and smiled at Autumn and Flash, "How 'bout you ditch these traitors and come hang around with me?"

Autumn and Flash looked at each other and nodded. Autumn grabbed the wrist of the demon's arm that was around her and Flash grabbed the wrist of the arm he had around her. The girls, using some random laws of physics that I don't care to remember, managed to flip the demon over on his back on the floor. Flash summoned her sword from her ring and held the point to the demon's neck. Autumn took the demon's own sword and also put the point to his neck. He eyed the blades nervously. Conversation in the tavern had stopped again as everyone turned their attention to the girls.

"Tell us what we want to know and we might decide to be generous and spare your worthless life." Flash said evilly with a smirk.

The demon was now sweating profusely, "Wh...Wh...What do you want to know?"

"We want information about a feather shaped crystal." Autumn replied.

"I don't know anything about a crystal like that..." The demon answered hesitantly.

Autumn and Flash pressed the sword tips closer to the demon's neck. The demon started sweating more. He whimpered in protest, "Ok! Ok! I don't know anything about it but you might try asking the Merchant Genki...He knows a lot about crystals and jewels..."

"Should we let him go unharmed?" Flash asked Autumn.

Autumn looked thoughtful, "I don't know...he was hitting on us..."

"True. So shall we take away his dignity?"

Autumn smirked, "Yes, let's..."

"Wh...What are you going to do?" The demon asked fearfully.

Flash shook her head and let the demon up but held his arm, "You'll see..."

Autumn took a small pink bundle out of her bag and handed it to him, "Go in that storage room and change into this. Don't try and get away or we'll kill you."

The demon nodded and went into the storage closet she pointed at. A moment later he came out wearing a fluffy pink bunny costume. Laughter erupted from everyone in the tavern. Autumn and Flash grabbed the demon's arms and pushed him out into the street. The demons on the street started laughing as well.

"Maybe next time you'll think twice before trying to take advantage of someone!" Autumn yelled at him before throwing the sword outside and closing the doors. Flash summoned her sword back into a ring. Both girls smiled and gave each other a high-five.

Yusuke was staring at them in shock, "How did you two do that?"

"Do what?" Flash asked.

Yusuke pointed at her, "Well, first of all, how did your ring turn into a sword? And secondly, how did you two manage to flip that guy over?"

"That's for us to know and you to die trying to find out." Autumn smiled at Yusuke sweetly.

Thorn walked back over to the group shaking her head, "I thought I told you not to get into any trouble."

"He started it." Both girls responded.

Thorn shrugged, "Well, did you find anything out?"

"Yes, he said we should look for the Merchant Genki." Autumn responded.

"Then let's go!" Thorn said happily as she ushered everyone outside.

Yusuke looked around, "So where exactly does this Genki person live?"

"Uh..." Thorn looked at Kurama. He shrugged. She turned to Autumn and Flash. They shook their heads.

"I know where he lives." A voice said from behind them and to the left.

They turned around to see...nobody! They then tilted their heads downwards to see a fox demon with a brown leather collar around his neck. Attached to the collar was a brown leather leash that was tied to a post outside the tavern. He was wearing a long sleeved red shirt and black jeans. He had on black shoes. He had two crimson fox ears sticking out from his head. Each ear had a black stripe on it. He had a large red fox tail with a black stripe on it that was broken in one place. The two ends of the stripe curved up so they didn't meet. He had black shoulder length hair and pale blue eyes that were covered in some places by his bangs.

"Hey aren't you that fox that Koenma showed us?" Hinote asked.

"Yeah, you're Dariken." Autumn pointed at him.

Dariken tilted his head to the side, "You know of me?"

"We're on a mission from Koenma to track down the crystal feather that was stolen from his vault." Thorn chirped.

Dariken's eyes widened, "It was stolen?! Damn, he'd better hope my sister doesn't find out. She'd kill him..."

"So we've heard." Hiei said.

Dariken looked at Flash, "You seem familiar."

"You seem stupid." Flash replied.

Kurama decided to interrupt before they could start arguing, "You said you know where Merchant Genki lives?"

"I did? I do?" Dariken stared blankly at Kurama.

Flash and Autumn hit him over the head, "YOU IDIOT!!!"

"Hey! I remember now! Yeah, I know where Genki is. If you get this collar off of me, then I'll take you there." Dariken pointed at the collar.

Autumn reached over and unbuckled it. The collar fell to the ground. Dariken stared at it for a moment before jumping up and hugging Autumn tightly, "THANK YOU!!!!! I LOVE YOU STRANGE GIRL WHO'S NAME I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!!!!"

"ACK!!!" Autumn started struggling to get away.

Kurama coughed to get Dariken's attention and said moodily, "I believe you said you would lead us to the merchant."

"Aw....Kurama's jealous..." Yusuke teased.

Dariken let go of Autumn and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I've missed you, Harmony."

"You're lucky everyone's too busy teasing Kurama to have heard you." Autumn hissed.

Dariken stood straight and shrugged. Something then clicked in his mind, "Wait...Kurama? As in...Youko Kurama?"

"Yes...why?" Kurama blinked.

Dariken grabbed Kurama's shirt collar and lifted him up. He growled at him, "I'm going to kill you!"

"What did he do?" Yusuke asked.

Dariken glared at Kurama, "He was flirting with my sister!"

"Oh he did more than that! He kissed her and hugged her..."

Kurama interrupted Thorn, "Thorn! You're not helping!"

"Dariken! Let go of him!" Autumn yelled.

Dariken remained holding Kurama and growling at him, "No! He was flirting with my sister and for that he must die!"

"I SAID LET GO OF HIM!" Autumn yelled louder and glared at Dariken.

Dariken let out a yelp of fright, dropped Kurama on the ground, and hid behind Flash, "Ok! Ok! I let go of him! Don't kill meeee!"

"Good boy." Autumn nodded. She reached her hand down to help Kurama off the ground. He took it and stood up.

"Thank you, Autumn." Kurama said as he brushed himself off and straightened his clothes.

Autumn pointed at Dariken, "Dari, lead now."

"Yes oh great leader person that I fear more than anything else in the world!" Dariken said before quickly walking off the way they had come into the town.

Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at Autumn fearfully before hurrying after Dariken. Thorn pat Autumn on the head, "And here I thought you were a sweet girl."

"Every rose has its thorns." Autumn replied before picking Freckles up and walking after the others.

Kurama's eyes widened a bit but he quickly dismissed his thoughts. He and the others followed after Autumn. Flash, Autumn, Hinote, and their animals were walking behind Yusuke and Kuwabara. Hiei, Kurama and Thorn were walking behind them. After a while of walking it started to get dark.

"Can we stop walking now?" whined Kuwabara.

Thorn nodded and stopped walking, "Yeah, let's make camp."

"Camp means marshmallows! Yay for marshmallows!" Autumn yelled happily.

Flash pointed at Yusuke and Kuwabara, "Go get firewood."

"Why us?" Yusuke asked.

Flash held up her metal pipe, "Because if we were to run out of food you would be the first ones we eat and I wanna make sure that we get everything we can out of you." (A.N: hee hee...borrowed that line from Winter's fic, A Walk In Each Other's Shoes.)

Yusuke and Kuwabara's faces paled. They looked at each other before scrambling away to find firewood. The rest of the group, except Hiei, laughed once they left. Hiei smirked. They were in a small clearing surrounded by trees.

Autumn pat Flash on the back, "Good Koneko."

Flash hissed and Autumn moved away, "I meant lioness!"

"Autumn, do try not to get Flash mad at you." Kurama said.

"Hey! I remember you now!" Dariken said as he pointed at Flash, "You're Harmony's friend, Lioness!"

Thorn, Kurama, and Hiei turned to stare at Flash with wide eyes. Yusuke and Kuwabara just happened to come back at that time. Yusuke scratched his head, "Flash is a lioness?"

"Not just any lioness, Flash is the Lioness." Autumn responded.

Flash put a hand over Autumn's mouth to keep her from saying anything else, "Ha-ha! She's just kidding!"

"No she's..." Hinote stopped when he saw the death glare Flash shot him, "I mean...yes she is!"

Yusuke looked at the three of them suspiciously, "You're hiding something from me."

"Yup." Autumn replied, having finally gotten free from Flash.

Yusuke crossed his arms, "What is it?"

"Nothing..." Autumn smiled innocently and hid her hand behind her back.

Yusuke glared, "I know it's something."

"Oh fine, you win." Autumn revealed her hidden hand and hit Yusuke over the head with a tree branch.

Yusuke held his head, "Itai! Bitch! What was that for?!"

"You wanted to know what I was hiding. I was hiding a tree branch." Autumn smirked.

Yusuke looked at his hand to make sure his head wasn't bleeding, "You didn't have to hit me with it!"

"...Yeah, you're right...but it was fun." Autumn laughed evilly.

Kuwabara dropped the sticks he was carrying in the center of the clearing. Kurama arranged some of the sticks and Hiei set them on fire. The group gathered around the fire. Autumn started putting the marshmallows on sticks and stuck the sticks in the ground so the marshmallows weren't too close to the fire but still close enough to cook. Hinote picked his up and stuck it in the fire so the marshmallow caught fire. Once it was nice and toasty he blew out the flame.

"You wouldn't happen to have any graham crackers and chocolate in there, would you?" Hinote asked.

Autumn picked up her bag, "I'll check."

"Shouldn't you know what's in your bag?" Thorn asked.

Autumn shook her head, "I went around the kitchen putting random snack items in the bag."

"Oh." Thorn nodded in understanding.

Kuwabara looked confused, "Why?"

"You never know what's going to happen so you might as well always be prepared." Autumn nodded.

Autumn started looking through her bag. She took out a small purple bag with a picture of a rabbit on it and handed it to Hinote, "Hold this."

"OK..." Hinote looked at the bag and stuck the end of the marshmallow stick back in the ground.

Freckles stared at the bag. His rabbit senses told him that that was the purple bag containing his rabbit treats. He ran and jumped into Hinote's lap. The treat crazed rabbit started pawing at Hinote and biting at his fingers. Hinote let out a squeal of surprise and fell backwards. The rabbit moved to stand on his chest and was biting at the bag.

"Autumn, help! Your rabbit's gone crazy!" Hinote yelled.

Autumn didn't look up, "Oh, it's just because that bag has his treats in it. He wants one, but you can't give him one because he's punished and only I am allowed to be a pushover and sneak him treats."

"And that's why your rabbit never learns his lesson, because you never actually go through with his punishments." Flash pointed out.

Autumn smiled innocently, "But he's so cute!"

"Iiiidiot..." Flash said between clenched teeth.

Autumn nodded happily, she then frowned, "Hey! I am not!"

"Hello?! Being attacked by a rabbit, here!" Hinote pointed out.

"So?" Flash and Autumn asked.

"Don't you care about my safety?!" Hinote yelled.

"No." Flash shook her head and went back to staring at the fire.

Hinote glared at her. Autumn was still looking through her bag. She suddenly held something up, "Ah ha!"

"You found graham crackers and chocolate?" Hinote asked hopefully.

"Nope! I found one of my pencil sharpeners! I was wondering where I put that..." Autumn dropped the pencil sharpener back into the bag.

Flash started poking the fire, "Fiiiiiiiiiire...."

"Flash, don't do that! You'll get hurt!" Kurama yelled.

Flash looked up at him and hissed. Autumn held Kurama back, "No! The number one rule in the Book of Flash is that you never, under any circumstances, come between Flash and fire."

"That's right, pansy. So stop interrupting my happy moment." Flash nodded.

Autumn hissed at Flash, "He's not a pansy!"

"And the number one rule in the Book of Autumn is never insult Kurama." Hinote said while still being attacked by the rabbit.

"Why shouldn't we insult him? He looks like a girl and carries flowers around in his hair. How can you not insult a girl like that?" Yusuke asked.

Autumn picked up a stick from the fire and used it to set Yusuke's shirt on fire. Yusuke screamed and started beating at the flames on his shirt. Flash started laughing insanely as she watched Yusuke's shirt burning. Autumn put the twig back in the fire. Yusuke dropped to the ground and started rolling around. Once the fire was out he took off his ruined green jacket to reveal an unharmed white tank top. He sat down glaring at Autumn. Autumn glared back.

"Kurama, you have to put a leash on your girlfriend. She's dangerous." Yusuke pointed at Autumn.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Kurama yelled, flustered.

Autumn looked back in her bag, "Well, I guess I don't have graham crackers or chocolate..."

"You mean I've been getting attacked by a rabbit all this time for nothing?!" Hinote asked.

"Pretty much, yeah." Autumn nodded.

Hinote threw the bag of treats at Autumn. She caught it. The rabbit abandoned Hinote and ran over to Autumn. She opened the bag and gave him a treat. Hinote pointed at her.

"I thought he was punished!" He pointed out.

Autumn shrugged, "Yeah, but he's too cute to deny a treat."

"So you made me suffer all that time and then you just give him a treat anyways? I could've saved myself a lot of pain!" Hinote seemed very angry.

Autumn pat the rabbit, "I'm the only one that can spoil him rotten."

Yusuke was looking at Flash as if staring for a long time would answer his questions about her. Flash noticed him staring and arched an eyebrow.

"What are you staring at?" she asked.

"Why did that fox guy call you Lioness before?" Yusuke asked.

Flash covered Autumn's mouth before she could say anything, "No reason."

"Flash is a demon." Hinote nodded.

Flash glared at him. Yusuke and Kuwabara stared at Flash with wide eyes. Yusuke pointed at her, "I knew someone that evil couldn't possibly be human!"

Autumn decided to pitch in, "She's half human, half lion demon."

"Is it true what Dariken said? Are you really Lioness?" Kurama asked.

"Yup!" Autumn chirped as an answer.

Before Autumn could go into a speech revealing Flash's entire life story, Flash handed Autumn a stick with a now lightly toasted marshmallow on it. Autumn squealed, "Marshmallow!"

"Who's Lioness?" Kuwabara asked as he picked up his marshmallow kabob and started biting at it.

Everyone automatically turned to Autumn since she was usually the one to blurt out lots of secretive information that people aren't supposed to know. Autumn was licking marshmallow off of her fingers happily. She froze with her tongue out and looked up to see everyone staring at her. She then sat up straight and looked around.

"What...? Oh! Is this the part where I blurt out everything I know about Lioness for the purpose of making the story easier to understand?" Autumn asked as she looked around.

(Director: ::sighs:: My mother wanted me to become an apple farmer but noooo, I had to run off to be a director! Stupid! Stupid! ::bangs forehead with hand repeatedly::)

"Alright, well, Lioness is technically a hanyou. She's half human and half Lightning Lion demon. Lioness is just a nickname she was given, her real name is Flash but nobody's supposed to know that so if I mysteriously disappear sometime during the night I leave everything to my rabbit. Anyway, Lioness is of the Sky Lion Tribe." Autumn started.

"Sky Lion Tribe?" Yusuke arched an eyebrow as he was eating his marshmallow.

"Yeah, they're one of the most powerful Sky Kingdoms of Makai. Lioness' parents were the King and Queen of the Kingdom, but she disowned herself from the royalty because she didn't want to rule. She became the captain of the Kingdom's army instead." Autumn continued.

"That's stupid. Who in their right mind would actually not want to rule?" Kuwabara crossed his arms.

Thorn glared over at Kuwabara while holding her marshmallow kabob, "Shh! I want to hear this!"

"Anyway, Lioness became quite famous in Makai for many reasons. There are stories about her that are told to young demons even now. Oh yeah, another thing you might be interested in knowing is that Lioness and Phantom Harmony were close friends." Autumn nodded as she finished her tale.

"So that must be Flash's connection to the crystal." Hiei stated.

"Right, so all we need to do is figure out how you two are connected to it." Yusuke narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Autumn and Hinote.

Autumn grinned innocently and Hinote reached over to steal Kurama's marshmallow kabob which was currently not being watched. He took the kabob out of Kurama's hand. Autumn then snatched it from Hinote. She held it over her head as Hinote tried to get it back from her. Kurama looked at his empty hand and then at the two arguing teens next to him. He took the kabob from Autumn's hand and ate the marshmallow. The two teens turned to stare at him.

"Never steal from a thief." Kurama said to them once he had swallowed.

Autumn shrugged and turned to Dariken, "Well, you've been awfully quiet, Dari..."

She stopped talking and rolled her eyes when she noticed that the kitsune was curled up on the ground asleep. His ears were twitching slightly as he continued to listen for danger in his sleep. Autumn looked to see if he had left his marshmallow but, sadly, he had eaten it. She picked up the sticky twig and stuck it in Dariken's tail out of boredom.

"Now was that really necessary? It'll take him forever to get it out and it'll most likely take a large clump of fur with it." Kurama pointed out.

"Yeah, and?" Autumn asked.

Kurama sighed and prepared to go into a speech about the proper way to treat your companions when Flash hit him over the head with her pipe, "No speeches. I don't want to go to sleep yet, pansy."

Kurama and Autumn glared at Flash. Autumn hissed, "He's not a pansy."

"Guys, I still feel a draft." Kuwabara said randomly.

Everyone stared at him. They then looked down at his pant leg. It was still shredded since the idiot hadn't noticed. Everyone sighed and went back about his or her own business. After a little while, Yusuke and Kuwabara fell asleep along with the animals. That left Kurama, Hiei, Thorn, Autumn, Flash, and Hinote sitting around the fire.

"I'll keep watch tonight. The rest of you get some sleep." Hiei said to the others.

"Thank you, nomi (flea)! I mean Hiei!" Autumn laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. Hiei and Flash glared at her.

Soon everyone except for Hiei was fast asleep.

---Guess what? Yup! Another dream sequence! This time it's Kurama's dream...

It was a bright spring day in Makai about 200 years ago. The blue sky was completely cloudless above. The forest was peaceful and calm. There were happy demon animals everywhere going about their business and providing for their families. Everything seemed so perky and full of life.

The peace of the forest was interrupted by the beating of wings and some frightened chirps as a small explosion was heard. There was a rustle and the sound of panting as a figure emerged from the bushes and started running on the main dirt road of the forest. He was a kitsune with long silver hair, two silver fox ears, and a silver fox tail. He was wearing loose-fitting white clothing and cream colored Chinese slipper shoes. He had bright amber eyes.

Currently he had his hand on a pouch full of jewels that he had attached to his belt. He was running from a group of bounty hunters that had chased him from the demon lord's mansion where he had stolen the jewels. There were four bounty hunters. They were covered in cloaks so he couldn't see much about them. All he knew was that the one in the front, presumably the leader, was able to form his energy in such a way that it exploded once it hit something.

Youko cursed silently. Kuronue had warned him that it was too dangerous to try and steal from that demon lord but, of course, he hadn't listened. It wasn't that he was trying to prove that he could beat the security at the mansion, ok maybe that was part of it, but it was mostly because the demon lord had recently purchased something that had been lost by the king of thieves on a heist. It was a silver chain with a ruby pendant in the shape of a rose. His mother had given it to him when he was young and told him to keep it always. She had told him that it had led her to meet his father and that someday it would lead him to his soul mate. Even though he had never believed her, the necklace was still very important to Youko since it was the only keepsake he had of his mother. Of course, once inside the mansion he hadn't been able to resist the urge to take a few extra gems along with him.

The leader of the bounty hunters threw another energy bomb. This one hit just to the left of Youko, injuring his left arm, leg, and creating a few scratches here and there. The thief's clothes were now stained with blood. He held his arm as he used some of his remaining energy to sprint ahead of the hunters as the smoke from the explosion was clearing. He left the main road into the bushes to his right and slowed to a limp once he reached a smaller path that was hidden from view of the main road. That sprint had made his leg hurt more and he had already lost a lot of blood. He started to pant as he continued limping down the road.

After a while of limping he stumbled and fell to the ground. He lay there for a moment before painfully lifting himself to his feet and continuing on. The lair was so far away that he doubted if he would survive. He had lost too much blood already and was having trouble focusing. Plus it wouldn't be long before the bounty hunters found him.

If my mate's supposed to be death then this necklace sure did a good job of leading me to her. Youko laughed coldly.

His eyes widened and his ears perked up when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He immediately spun around to fight whoever it was. Sure he was weak but he wouldn't go down without a fight. At first he didn't see anyone. He was confused until he looked down a bit and saw a female kitsune. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked with as strong a voice as he could muster.

The kitsune in front of him merely smiled. He studied her for a bit. She wasn't exactly short but she wasn't anywhere close to his height. There were two jet black fox ears on her head. The ear on his left had a chip missing from it. She had shoulder length black hair with black bangs that stopped just above her grey blue eyes. He stared into her eyes for a moment before allowing his gaze to wander to the rest of her. She had a fluffy black fox tail behind her. She was wearing loose black pants, a long sleeved black shirt, and black Chinese slipper shoes. There was a light blue ribbon tied around her tail. His eyes moved back to her face. She was looking down and had a faint blush tinting her cheeks since he hadn't bothered to hide the fact that he was studying her. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a self conscious way. He had to fight a chuckle, she looked cute like that.

"Who are you?" His question was softer this time since he didn't sense that she was a threat to him.

The kitsune looked back up at him and smiled before walking past him and stopping a few steps ahead. He turned around to look at her. She didn't turn around as she spoke for the first time, "My house is very close to here. You can hide there until those bounty hunters decide to leave you be. I can heal your wounds once we get there."

"Why?" He asked.

She turned to look at him, confusion evident in her stormy blue eyes, "Why what?"

"Why are you inviting me into your house? Are you stupid? This is Makai! You can't just go around inviting strangers into your house and expect them not to hurt you or steal from you!" He practically yelled.

The kitsune's eyes lit up with amusement and she smiled sweetly at him, "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, though I do appreciate your concern. However, I do believe that the one you should be worried about right now is yourself. Come along, Sparky."

Youko glared at the kitsune's back as she turned around and started walking, "Sparky?! My name is not Sparky!"

"Then what is your name?" She asked as she walked slowly so that he could keep up.

He hurried to walk next to her, "I can't tell you, but I can tell you that it's not Sparky!"

The kitsune next to him laughed softly. He glared, "It's not funny!"

"I think it is." She smirked and looked up at him with her eyes glowing with mischief.

He snorted and looked away. This only caused more soft laughter to come from her. He smiled inwardly; he liked the sound of her laughter. After they had walked slowly for a while, they reached a bridge over a calmly flowing river. Across the river and to the left Youko could see part of a house. The rest was blocked from sight by trees. The female kitsune led him across the bridge and to the house. From up close it looked like a large oriental style home except with a western (A.N: meaning US and Europe) style door and the house wasn't made with paper. There were beautiful gardens full of flowers in front of the house. It looked well kept. She went inside and he followed her. They both took off their shoes at the door.

The inside of the house looked like a mix of different cultures. There was a hallway leading straight from the door to a room that appeared to be the kitchen and then turned to the right. There was a living room area right to the left of the door. Once he entered the room he saw large windows on his left. In front of the windows was a large, comfy looking couch. In front of that was a coffee table and then on his right were some comfy looking chairs. The chairs and couch were dark blue. Across from where he was standing was a wall lined with bookcases. Some of the shelves had gaps between the books. In the gaps were different valuable looking statues. There were some paintings on other walls. The wall on the right didn't connect to the wall across from him. He could see that the gap led into the dining room. There was a shuttered window in the right wall.

Youko sighed as he flopped down onto the couch in front of the window. He leaned his head back onto the back of the couch and closed his eyes. He was very thankful for the rest. His eyes then shot open and he looked around once he realized that the other kitsune wasn't in the room with him. He heard soft footsteps coming down the hall and turned to look at the entrance of the living room.

The kitsune walked into the room carrying a pretty looking box. It was red with jewels set into it and the design of a large thunderbird on the top. She set it down on the table and gave him a look that clearly stated 'touch it and you're dead'. She then walked out of the room again and came back with two bowls that had water in them. The larger bowl had two rags hanging out of it. She set the bowls next to the jeweled box and then sat down in the chair that was across from him and in front of the items she had brought.

"Why did you help me?" Youko asked as he watched her open the jeweled box and take out a golden colored crystal that was glowing.

The girl's eyes lit up with amusement as she looked at him, "I wasn't aware that I needed a reason in order to help someone."

"Do you even know who I am?" Youko was starting to get frustrated with the lack of answers.

The girl shook her head, "No."

"You wouldn't have helped me if you knew who I am."

"And you wouldn't have trusted me if you knew who I am."

Youko sighed, "Aren't you even going to ask why those bounty hunters were after me?"

"Should I?" The kitsune leaned forward with her elbows resting on her knees and her hands clasped together under her chin. She smirked, obviously enjoying not giving him straight answers.

Youko growled in frustration, "You aren't going to tell me who you are?"

"It's fascinating really, how you can be so focused on trying to find out who I am when you're slowly bleeding to death. You're either extremely cautious or extremely stupid." The kitsune's smirk widened.

Youko's eyes narrowed and his left ear started twitching in annoyance, "Fine! If you won't tell me who you are, I'll tell you who I am! I'm Youko Kurama, the legendary bandit!"

The kitsune sat quietly regarding him with unreadable eyes. He suddenly felt the urge to kick himself for saying that. He could've at least waited until she had healed him. Now he was going to end up outside with no place to go and no one to help him. The kitsune suddenly started laughed. Youko's eyes widened as he looked at her in confusion. She stopped laughing but still had an amused smile on her face.

"You have no idea how ironic this is." She told him.

Youko arched an eyebrow, "Perhaps if you told me who you are I would."

"Oh, silly me! I've been sitting here trying to irritate you in order to amuse myself and this whole time you've been bleeding all over!" The kitsune turned her attention to the bowls and the crystal in front of her. She crushed the crystal easily between her hands and let the powder fall into the two bowls, making sure there was more in the smaller bowl.

"What are you doing?" Youko asked, letting his curiosity overpower his annoyance.

The kitsune soaked the rags in the water of the large bowl. She took them out and handed them to Youko, "Wrap one of these around the wound on your arm and the other around the wound on your leg."

Youko nodded and did as he was told. He looked back at the kitsune. She was gone again and so was the jeweled box. Youko frowned, wondering how she was able to disappear like that without him realizing. He decided that it must be because of his injuries. She came back into the room holding a small jar full of powdered herbs and a spoon. She put a spoonful of the herbs into the smaller bowl and stirred it. She then put the jar and spoon aside and held the bowl out to Youko.

"Drink this." She told him.

He took the bowl and stared at the water. It was glowing. He sniffed it, "Will it kill me?"

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead by now." She smiled at him.

Youko drank the water and found it was surprisingly sweet. He looked back at the kitsune in front of him, "So...who are you?"

"You're not going to shut up with that question, are you?" The kitsune rolled her eyes.

"Not until you answer it." Youko responded.

The kitsune held her hands up palm out and sighed, "Fine. I give up. My name is Phantom Harmony but you're probably more used to calling me The Black Angel."

Youko's eyes grew wide in shock and fear. He tensed and sat straight, ready to bolt, "Are you going to turn me in?"

"Now why would I be so rude to my houseguest?" Harmony asked.

"But...you're job...is to catch criminals..." Youko started.

Harmony smirked, "You see now, there are loopholes in what you just said. Number 1, I technically can't do anything unless I see a crime occurring or if Koenma gives me a mission. Number 2, who's to say that you're a criminal? It seems more like you're a victim from where I'm sitting."

Youko was still tense. Despite her words, he still wasn't sure if he could trust her. Harmony sighed and stood up, "I knew you wouldn't trust me..."

Youko watched as she gathered the bowls and walked out of the room. He sat on the couch deep in thought. She seemed to mean him no harm but the fact remained that they were technically enemies. Even if they weren't, he had learned over the years to be cautious about trusting people. His options were to run from the house or to stay and risk getting sent to prison.

He sat still on the couch contemplating his choices. He felt an itch on his left arm and went to scratch it. The itch was in the place where his wound was. He took the cloth off from his arm and was surprised to see not even a mark where the wound had been. He discovered the same was true for the wound on his leg. He was also feeling some of his strength returning to him. He sighed then stood up. He would risk prison.

He walked out of the living room and to the left into the kitchen. It was a pretty nice sized kitchen. There were counters on the right wall and the wall across from him. On the left there was an opening into the dining room. Near there was a door that led to the backyard. There was a small window on the wall across from him above the counters. There was a small table in the near left corner along with a few chairs. Above the counters on the right were light colored wooden cupboards. He saw Harmony putting the bowls away in one of the cupboards.

"Do you live here alone?" Youko asked.

Harmony nodded and gave a small smile, "Usually. Sometimes my brother and my cousin come and stay for a while. The rest of the time I'm alone."

"Don't you get lonely?" Youko asked as he pulled out one of the chairs and sat in it backwards so he could rest his crossed arms on the back of the chair and look at Harmony.

Harmony shook her head, "Sometimes, but then I can always go into the woods and find a stray, injured mutt to take in and nurse back to health. I mean, that's what I did today, ne?"

"Hey! I'm not a...!" Youko's sentence was interrupted by a bell from outside. He stood up quickly.

Both kitsune turned to look down the hallway at the door. The bell came again. Harmony sighed and walked to the entrance of the hallway. She looked over her shoulder at Youko, "Stay in the kitchen and don't let yourself be seen. I'll be right back."

"Who does she thinks she's talking to? I'm a thief! Of course I won't let myself be seen!" Youko grumbled to himself before noticing that the shuttered window he had seen in the living room was connected to the kitchen. He pulled a chair up to the window and leaned back against the wall. He turned his head so he could see through the slits in the shutters. He saw Harmony sigh and then open the door. At the door was a floating baby.

"Koenma! What an unpleasant surprise! To what do I owe the displeasure of your visit?" Harmony said between clenched teeth.

Koenma laughed, "Always a joker, Phantom."

"Who's joking? I really can't stand you." Harmony pointed out.

Koenma tried to get past Harmony. She blocked his way. He tried the other side, again she blocked him. He glared at her, "Are you going to invite me in?"

"Well...I would but...the last time you were here it took me nearly two moon spans (A.N: about two months) to disinfect the place." Harmony smirked as she saw Koenma's face redden in anger.

"Phantom, let me in!" Koenma yelled at the kitsune.

Harmony smiled, "But it's such a nice day outside! Why do you have to come inside?"

"We have important matters to discuss that nobody else can hear!" Koenma yelled.

"Then perhaps I should go outside and we'll talk there..."

"Are you hiding something?" Koenma narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, there's a wanted criminal in my kitchen." Harmony said unemotionally.

Youko's eyes widened, she turned me in?!

Koenma started laughing, "What would I do without you and your jokes?"

Harmony rolled her eyes. Youko fell out of his seat in surprise. There was a loud thud. Koenma stopped laughing and looked towards the kitchen. Harmony smiled nervously, "Don't mind that. I found a stray dog in the woods today and I'm taking care of him. His name's Sparky!"

Youko let out a low growl and narrowed his eyes at Harmony through the shutters. She's going to pay for that.

"Oh? A dog? Can I see him?" Koenma asked.

"Uh...No...He's not very friendly...He might bite you!" Harmony laughed nervously.

Koenma sighed, "Oh that's too bad...Ah! But we're getting off topic!"

"Right! Err...What was the topic again?" Harmony asked as she stared blankly at Koenma.

"I was asking to come in..."

"And I told you no! Ha-ha! I remember that now!" Harmony laughed.

Koenma sighed, "Well, I guess I'll just tell you why I'm here...A thief has stolen many valuable jewels from a very powerful demon lord."

"Which demon lord?" Harmony asked.

"The one that you pushed out a window." Koenma said icily.

Harmony hissed, "I'm telling you it was self defense! Serves him right that he got stolen from. I would've done it myself if I hadn't had to take care of that baka usagi (stupid rabbit)."

"We suspect that the thief is Youko Kurama. The bounty hunters that the demon lord had hired to protect his treasures were discovered being slowly eaten by plants not too far from here. They swore that it was a kitsune with black ears and tail that did it to them. Did you have something to do with that?" Koenma asked Harmony.

Harmony smirked, "I was wondering what type of seeds those were..."

"Phantom! It makes me look bad when one of my employees goes around attacking people for no good reason!" Koenma yelled.

"They were scaring the birds!" Harmony yelled in defense.

"So you summoned a plant to kill them?!"

"Yes! The happiness of the birds is more important than catching a criminal wanted for committing countless robberies and killing a bunch of bounty hunters! There are too many bounty hunters in the world, anyway!" Harmony yelled.

Youko was fighting to keep from laughing. Koenma was fuming. His face was red from anger as he glared at Harmony with a murderous glint in his eyes. Harmony's ears were back showing that she, too, was angry.

"The leader of the hunters insists Youko Kurama couldn't have gotten too far away with all the blood he was losing. He might very well be dead by now unless someone helped him." Koenma continued, still angry.

Harmony smiled, "Now who in their right mind would invite a bleeding stranger into their house?"

"You're right. And besides, you're the only one that lives around here and I know you would never help a criminal because then you'd be arrested." Koenma laughed.

"Well, I could always escape and kill you out of spite before leaving the palace via the secret passageway nobody's supposed to know about to go and hide somewhere in the Makai until everything settled down again." Harmony was smiling sweetly.

Koenma laughed more. After his laughter faded he looked at Harmony, "You...were joking about that...right?"

"No." Harmony replied simply while still smiling.

Koenma fidgeted nervously, "I came here to tell you that catching Youko Kurama is your new mission."

"Gee, as much as I'd love to take this mission, I can't. I'm on vacation." Harmony responded.

Koenma blinked, "Phantom, you don't get vacations."

"Then I quit. Good bye." Harmony started closing the door.

Koenma squeezed through the gap before she closed the door, "You can't quit!"

"Gah! INTRUDER!" Harmony picked up a broom and whacked Koenma with it, "Get out of my house!"

Koenma fell to the floor. He sat up rubbing his head, "Fine! If it'll stop you from quitting, you can have vacations!"

"Good. As of now I'm officially on vacation." Harmony smiled as she held the broom over her shoulder.

"You can't take a vacation now, when there's an important mission! You have to catch Youko Kurama!" Koenma yelled, now floating at eye level again.

Harmony was still smiling, "Sorry, can't help you, I'm on vacation."

"PHANTOM! Why must you always be so frustrating?!" Koenma yelled.

Harmony's smile widened, "Because it's fun!"

"Argh! ...Well will you at least go out with me?" Koenma smiled hopefully.

Harmony's smile faded, "Hold that thought."

"Ok..." Koenma was still hopeful as he watched Harmony put the broom back and walk into the kitchen.

Youko turned to watch Harmony curiously as she walked over to a cupboard and took out a box labeled 'In case of Koenma'. She opened the box and took out a sharp dagger. She walked back to where Koenma was.

Koenma eyed the dagger nervously, "Phantom...? Why do you have a dagger? Please put it down...Why are you looking at me like that? Um...I'll just take that as a no and leave..."

With that Koenma disappeared. Harmony sighed and walked back into the kitchen, where she put the dagger back in the box. She put the box back and smiled at Youko, "You hungry?"

Youko was staring at Harmony blankly. Harmony waved a hand in front of his face. She then noticed something, "Oh! Your clothes are stained with blood and torn! I'll go find something you can wear."

Harmony went to get some of her brother's spare clothes. On the way back she grabbed a pink kimono from her room. She walked back to the kitchen and hid her brother's clothes on a chair. She handed the kimono to Youko.

"Sorry, couldn't find any clothes for you. You'll have to make due with a kimono." Harmony smiled.

Youko's eyes widened, "Are you crazy?! I'm not wearing a kimono! I'll stay in these clothes, thank you very much."

"Aw, but you'd look good in a kimono..." Harmony protested, trying very hard not to burst out laughing.

Youko crossed his arms and glared at her, "No."

"Ha-ha! You should see your face right now! I was just joking! Here, you can have some of my brother's clothes. He'll never know." Harmony handed Youko the outfit. It was loose black pants and a blood red sleeveless shirt.

Youko took the clothes and stood up, "Where should I change?"

Harmony led him out into the hallway, "The door all the way at the end of the hallway leads to the bathhouse. All of these rooms except for the first one on the right and last one on the left are empty. Oh and the first one on the left is the basement. Do not open that door for any reason."

"Why not?" Youko asked, curious.

"Let's just say...you don't want to know." Harmony laughed nervously.

Youko nodded and gave the basement a nervous look before walking off down the hall. Once he was back Harmony offered to make food. The two kitsune spent the rest of the night talking and getting to know each other. They became fast friends. It was very late when the two of them decided to call it a night.

"It's late. You can stay in one of the spare rooms if you'd like." Harmony said as she stood at the entrance of the hall from the living room and looked back at Youko.

Youko grinned and stood up, "What? I can't share your room?"

"Pervert!" Harmony yelled. She threw a pillow at him.

Youko caught the pillow and smirked at her. She was blushing and trying to hide it. She turned around and walked down the hall. He followed, "So is that a no?"

"Good night." Harmony shot Youko a 'don't you dare follow' glare and walked into the first room on the right.

Youko grinned and walked off to the room next to hers. He lay awake for most of the night listening to the sounds around him. After a while of listening to the soft sound of Harmony's breathing as she slept, he stood up and gathered his things. He walked out of the room and stopped outside her door. Cautiously he opened the door and went over to her bed. He couldn't see much of the room since it was dark. Across from him was a window. The bed was against the left wall. There was a small night table on the left of the bed.

He looked down at Harmony as she slept and smiled. His smile faded when he saw the chip in her ear. He had noticed it before but had decided it was best not to ask about it. He reached down and gently pet around the chip. Harmony whimpered and turned over in her sleep so that he couldn't touch the ear. Youko frowned and clenched his fist.

Harmony...I will find out who did that to your ear and I will kill him. I promise you that.

Youko sighed and allowed his hand to fall to his side. It bumped into the bag of jewels he had. He opened the bag and took out the necklace his mother had given him. The pendant shone slightly in the little bit of moonlight coming through the window. He smiled as he remembered his mother's words.

So, this necklace was supposed to lead me to my soul mate...Could that mean...? Youko looked over the pendant at Harmony.

Even if she is...I can't stay here. It would put her in too much danger.

Youko looked back at the necklace and sighed. He closed his fingers around it and closed his eyes for a moment. He then opened his eyes and put the necklace on the night table. He smiled at Harmony.

"This is my promise to you: We will see each other again."

Youko then turned, left the room, walked through the halls, and out the door. He stopped outside and looked at the house so that it would be embedded in his memory. He then walked away without looking back.

--End dream. (A.N: FINALLY! That dream's over 4000 words long!)

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Dream: So, I'm adding an author's note. You people should feel honored. Actually I needed to clear some stuff up.

Disclaimer: Flash, Lioness, and Terminator are property of Winter -iel -o burzum. Hinote, Tundra, and Vladimir are property of EternalBlackNight. Yu Yu Hakusho and its characters are property of Yoshihiro Togashi. Autumn, Freckles, Phantom Harmony, Thorn, Dariken, Viern, Nuala, Ninikinaki, and the crystal belong to me, Dreamchasereternity. All other aspects and characters of this story belong to me unless otherwise stated.

Pronunciation key: I believe I probably should've put this at the beginning of this story, but I didn't so I'm putting it now. Yes, the thing most of you probably have been waiting for. I can just imagine you readers reading my stories and screaming "HOW THE HELL DO YOU PRONOUNCE THAT?!?!" Well, here is the answer to that question! Those of you that have some knowledge of the Japanese pronunciations of vowels, apply that to the names. Also, those with experience in Spanish pronunciations can apply that to the names since they're similar. I'm probably going to wind up making a web page with this once I stop being lazy... ( ::cough:: never ::cough:: )

Dariken: Dah-ree-ken

Dari: Dah-ree

Hinote: He-no-tay

Ninikinaki: Nee-nee-key-nah-key

Nuala: New-ah-la

Viern: Vee-urn