Disclaimer: I own only my OCs and the plot.

Recap: After a huge battle of words, Tsukino and Kurama go different ways to try to meet their goals. Neither looks back as they walk off, but both feel the effects of a broken heart.

This Is How You Remind Me
Chapter Ten
Welcome to the War

Day Forty-Three

Unlike wars in the Human World, demon wars consist of little planning and moving of troops, and more senseless fighting. Admittedly, there are some similarities between the two types of warfare but they are few. In both kinds, a leader will be 'elected' to lead the army and he will have generals, but depending on the leader the war will either be ruthlessly planned or rushing into things and worrying about the damage after the fact. Unfortunately, both the dogs and the cat demons seem to be following the latter technique. Though scouters are sent out to inspect enemy territory, their information is rarely taken truly into account and their presence is merely to worry the opposing army.

Also similar to human warfare (more specifically the Japanese in World War Two), in war demons do not follow the concept of surrender. There are a few who will have mercy but in this current time when so much stress has built up without being able to take it out on humans, they are few and far between.

There is one key difference between human and demon wars though. Despite what most would think due to demons living long and being able to fight longer, demon wars usually end quicker than human wars do. One reason this happens is because both armies are able to wipe each other out more rapidly than human can. Since demons overall are a usually violent race, due to where we gain our powerful, we have adapted methods of killing far more effective than even a nuclear weapon. Also, another reason why demon wars end faster is because we do not need to waste time moving troops from country to country. Most of the time spent in warfare in Human World is spent moving, eating, planning, and resting. However, demons can last many years without food and with our ability to run great distances effortlessly we do not waste much time travelling. Nevertheless, just like humans, demon also need our rest and for that reason, I was less than impressed when I awoke this morning to an annoying ringing sound.

I had not gotten much sleep that night as I sat up worrying about Tsukino. For whatever reason, I couldn't help but feel that I had put her in grave danger by leaving her like that. Because of that I found myself checking the spirit detective tool on my wrist almost every five minutes. It is a new item that I had asked Koenma to make for Tsukino and me in case we were separated.

The item looks like a compass attached to a strap to wear on one's wrist. To put it simply, the new device is a combination of the Demon Compass and the Megiru Seal. Once homed on a certain person's energy signature, the Megiru Compass will indicate the distance and direction of the person as well as their condition of health. The face of the compass has the same function as the Megiru Seal. When it is blue, the person is well and unharmed. When it turns yellow, the person is slightly harmed, but when red it meant that the person was seriously injured. However, unlike its precursor, the compass can not fall off one's wrist to show that the person is dead. Instead the face of the compass will turn black.

Also, the compass will still function when the person is dead and be able to locate the body. In the center of the compass, there is a diamond; one half is red with a picture of a white soul on it, while the other side is white. To find the person, living or dead, all one would have to do is walk in the direction that the red point is pointing. Also, below the diamond there is a small gauge that will tell the user the distance in kilometres with a decimal point to make it easy to convert to metres.

Additionally, there is a button to push on the lower left hemisphere of the compass face. When that button is pushed, the compass will instantly home on the energy signature of the person who pushed it. Before we left Spirit World, Botan and Koenma tested out the watches on Tsukino and me while we were sleeping. When I asked why they did not try it while we were awake, they answered that the compass drained a small amount of life-energy that would cause us to pass out if we clicked it while we were awake. They figured that it would make more sense to have us click it while we were already asleep so that we would be able to recover from the energy loss.

Finally, my compass has an additional feature. Around the edge of the compass face are the numbers one to five a symbol of what stage Tsukino is at. As she moves closer to another stage, the arrow will move closer to a number.

It was because of this extra feature on my compass that I never got around to giving Tsukino her compass or telling her about it. She would have noticed the numbers and wondered what they were for. Also, my plan would not have worked as well because I would have had to remove the watch during the fight to make her think that I didn't care about what happened to her.

If it wasn't for the watch, Yusuke probably would have come to Demon World and killed me right now. As it is, he already is less than pleased with me and is making his views known.

The ringing I awoke to was Yusuke trying to contact me using the mirror. Somehow he had heard from Koenma who had been watching our progress about Tsukino's and mine fight, and now I am listening to Yusuke demand to know what I was thinking as I try to get rid of the urge to fall back to sleep.

"-And stop being a jackass and go get her!" Yusuke finishes yelling, panting for breath as he glares at me with narrowed eyes.

After swallowing my pill for the day, I say, "I apologize Yusuke but-"

He quickly swallows a great mouthful of air and shouts, "I don't care! Go and make sure that she is okay!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"We both know that the mission isn't nearly as important to you as her safety! Isn't that why you didn't want to get any information from her before?"

My patience is already running low from the stress of the mission and Yusuke's lecture has done nothing to improve it. "If you recall correctly, Yusuke, I suggested the most logical plan that would get the mission done as quickly as possible. You were the one who insisted on wasting time. Also, the compass face is blue; she is perfectly fine right now." I show him the compass to prove my point.

"That watch doesn't give an advanced warning though! What if she gets attacked!? You won't know about it until after the fact!"

"That won't happen. She is safer being as far away from me as possible."

Yusuke's eyes narrow even more, and his voice somehow managed to get louder. "Oh really? If I remember correctly, the last time you started distancing yourself from her, she got forced into attacking us, got two human killed and ended up in Spirit World jail where she ended up hitting the second stage!"

"That is enough, Yusuke," I say peremptorily.

"Enough is when you get your head in gear and go and get her back! Now go get her!"

Before I can say anything else, he closes the connection leaving me to my thoughts.

I am not alone with my thoughts long though because within minutes of Yusuke finishing the call and my updating my journal, Kioshi bursts into my inn room saying that we have to report to the den as soon as possible. Since there are many cuts in his black suit and a few on his face mask, I quickly gather my things and follow him out of the room. We are about to enter the bar of the inn when a cat demon spots us. It hisses at us, and Kioshi reaches for his sheathed weapon at his side. Silently, I place a hand on his shoulder and step in front. As the cat grins and enlarges its claws, I calmly grab a seed from my hair. Holding it in front of me, I will it to grow as the cat lunges towards me. Instantly, my death tree reveals itself, and the kitten stops in his tracks. Without even looking back, he runs out of the bar allowing us to continue.

"You're not really self-taught, are you?" Kioshi asks as he moves beside me as we leave the bar using the back door.

"Not exactly," I reply as we step onto the streets. "I suppose we have to report this to the army so that they can send troops?"

Kioshi shakes his head. "No idea. All I know is that some old dog demon told me to find some useful troops and get back to the Den."

"Are we picking anyone else up?"

"No, all the rest are glory hounds with barely any brains." He pauses for a moment to look out of the alley. After checking both ways, he says, "Alright, the hideout is a few hundred miles run from here. If we want to get there in one piece, we'd better move now." He starts to step out into the open to go straight across the road, but I pull him back.

"Then I would suggest not going that way. Cats are coming from our left, and if we want to keep in one piece we have to keep downwind of them or they'll find us," I explain before he can yell at me.

He nods. "Which way to you suggest then?"

I point to the right. "If we run fast enough and if they are only in the war for the bloodshed and glory, we should have no problems."

"And if they aren't?"

I reach to my hair and pull out a vine that wraps around my right arm and quickly forms a sword like blade extending from my wrist. "Does it really matter?"

Though his mask, I barely see a grin as he pulls out his weapon. In the light of the dawning sun, it sparkles as Kioshi almost lovingly runs his hand over the scythe-like blade connected to a silver string-like wire. He notices my staring and says, "Got it from my old man. Meaning that if you take this, you will die."

I am about to ask who his father was when we hear something fall over in the alley. "Time to move out," I calmly suggest before running down the alley with all the speed my demon body can supply. Unfortunately, I am unable to reach my maximum speed because of the buildings but once we are out of the city, I take off in the direction Kioshi told me the headquarters of the dog army (also known as the Den) was in.

After a few moments, I hear him shout, "Damn it! Will you slow down?"

I stop running and a wave of dust blows pass me as I wait for Kioshi to catch up. When he is within talking distance, I say, "I thought I said if we were fast we wouldn't have to worry about attacks."

Kioshi lands beside me and straightens his hat. "But there aren't any cats for miles."

"And if they are fast on their feet they could be here in minutes."

"They'd have to be as fast as you," Kioshi says as he sits down. "Damn it, my wings are all sore from trying to keep up."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner then?"

"Because I didn't start having a problem until we reached the city limits and you started to be a speed demon."

"Perhaps we should continue on foot then."

Kioshi raises his hands as if exasperated though his voice shows that he is merely joking. "Oh sure! Now you are willing to slow down."

I turn my back to him and start walking. "If you are done with your theatractics, we'd best get moving. There is no telling how long until the cats catch our scents."

With an exaggerated sigh, Kioshi leaps to his feet and starts to lead the way to the location of the Den. We arrive about nightfall at the entrance to an old bear demon cave with strong steel doors just as the guards are closing the doors for the night. Reluctantly they allow us to enter and hand us over to an almost dead looking wolf. Some elders grow more powerful in age, others, such as the male wolf demon, grow weaker. Though the wolf demon's energy is weak, he is quite steady on his feet, and gives us a tour of the base.

As we walk away from the door as we see that the cave floor and ceiling slope downwards, though the outside landscaping give no hint of this. The wolf warns us to duck a bit, and Kioshi and I find ourselves crawling on hands and knees due to our height for at least half a kilometre before the ceiling lifts so that we can walk normally once more.

"The water that formed this cave did not manage to crave away as much stone here, and we cannot broaden the tunnel for it will collapse, so you'll just have to crawl whenever you want to pass through the front door," the elder says as he waits for us to stand up.

It is at that moment that Kioshi, and I realize that the walls are a perfect rectangle and lined with a dense black stone.

"This isn't Black Demon Diamond, is it, elder?" I ask as Kioshi touches the walls to be sure that they are as smooth as they appear.

A nod from the elder confirms my suspicions, but he does not explain how the dog army transported the stones to the cave.

Though worthless for jewellery, Black Demon Diamonds are probably the hardest substance in Demon World. Unfortunately, due to it being also being impossibly heavy, it is impractical for armour or weapons. The dog army seems to have found some way cut it and to move it though and surrounded the ceilings, floors, and walls with the hard stone. Because of the diamonds, light reflects off the walls and often blinds bystanders. For this reason, the whole base is lit with torches because firelight is easier on the eyes and most of the demons present cannot see in the dark.

After looking at the stones for a moment longer we follow the elder into the maze, which is the final defence for the dog army. Inside the maze are rooming units for troops, bars in various turns of the maze, an armoury, a jail as well as torture room, and a planning room. Once the wolf is sure that we know where everything is, he shows us our rooms in the rooming units and disappears down the hallway into another part of the Den.

"So what do you think?" Kioshi asks me as I open my door and look into the room we will be sharing.

"It appears safe, but we will need some source of light," I reply as I enter. The whole room is dark, and we can only make out vague impressions of what the room looks like because of the light from the hallway. Because the light from the hallway is not being reflected, it is apparent that Black Demon Diamonds do not cover the walls. However, in the dim, I can make out the shape of two beds, one against either wall of the room, and a door on the far side, leaving to a bathroom undoubtedly.

Luckily, Kioshi's eyes are better than mine are and pick out what was supposed to be the source of light. "There are holes in the wall above the beds, probably supposed to hold torches, but they're empty."

I nod as I reach for my hair and pull out two seeds, which I place in the holes. "I suppose these will have to do for now." Silently, the small seeds grow into my Lamp Weeds and light the room with a yellow glow caused by a chemical reaction in the bloom of the plant that looks like a bulb of a light bulb. Now that the room is slightly lit, I can make out the shape of the room more clearly. The walls are dirt as I suspected and when I open the door on the far side of the room, a bright light nearly blinds Kioshi and me. Once our eyes adjust to the brightness, we see that the room behind the door is completely white with an electrical light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Again, I am correct in my assumptions for the room is a bathroom. Rubbing my eyes to remove the spots from my vision, I close the door both to the washroom and the hallway. While I am going that, Kioshi claims the bed on the right side of the room.

"How do you turn off your plants?" he asks as I sit down on my own bed and place my bag underneath.

"Change the flow of my demon energy," I reply as I lie down and slowly start to change the flow of my demon energy causing the plants to dim the light they give off. "We'll have to see about getting some torches tomorrow."

"Makes you wish for a fire demon roommate, huh?"

"Perhaps."

I hear Kioshi turn over in his bed to face me. "You're oddly calm for someone who just let their slave in the middle of a warzone considering how much you appeared to care for her."

I frown and lay on my back, staring at the ceiling. "She's not my slave."

"Sure she's not." Kioshi yawns and lays down flat on his bed. "Well night, Kitsu."

"My name is Katsu."

"Your real name must be embarrassing if you won't tell anyone it," he comments.

"Perhaps I'm not insane and want to live many more years," I reply coldly.

He is silent for a moment before he says, "Why did your watch just change colour?"

For a moment, I am confused until I remember that I am wearing the Megiru Compass. Looking down, I realize that the face of the compass has turned yellow.

Save a Kitten, Earn a Lifestyle

After my fight with Kurama, I fell into a tear-induced sleep and didn't awake until hours later when I heard screaming in the streets. Going over to my closet, I hoped that all my possessions were still were they left them. As I threw the door open, I almost gasped at the feeling of nostalgia that came over me as I slowly held the plush dog that a stranger had given me as a small kitten of about only two months.

Before I turned thirteen, I would curl up in my closet and wait until the fight had stopped outside, but I couldn't do that any longer. For one thing I couldn't fit in the closet anymore, and two, there was no guarantee that the attackers wouldn't come inside. So I put the small toy away and instead grabbed the broom that I had kept inside. Though it was not a wonderful weapon, it was something. Kuwabara had taught me a bit of swordsmanship while I practiced with a wooden sword, so I figured that a wooden broom could work too. As long as it didn't get cut in half.

I shook my head to keep the troubling thought from my head and walked over to the door, ready to attack in case someone did decide to raid my house. Though it was falling apart, and the neighbourhood was horrible; it was the only place that I could hide from my life until I could come up with a plan. It had sheltered me many times before that night, and I wasn't about to turn my back on my shoulder to cry on.

Keeping my breathing quiet and clutching the broom, I waited behind the door for something to happen. Fate did not disappoint.

Moments after I had got into position, a small humanoid cat ran into my house and crashed into my legs as she tried to close the door. She rubbed the area of her head between her white ears causing her long hair to be slightly messed up. I watched as she suddenly remembered what she had crashed into and waited for a scream as she stared up at me with fearful blue eyes. Getting to my knees, I petted her head.

"It's okay," I muttered. "I'm on your side." I think, I mentally added.

Tears started to come from her eyes as she said, "Dogs are attacking. Mum and dad-"

She was cut off but the door being pushed open slightly. Both she and I put all our weight on the door and slammed it shut before retreating a few feet, the kitten behind me, and my broom held in my hands like a sword.

I don't think either of us breathed as the door was kicked in, but I know I inhaled, to give my muscles the energy to fight, when I saw the kitten's torturers.

In the doorway stood two female dog demons with long white hair and white furs. Though they were no longer drunk, their eyes were still red as they looked towards the kitten and me.

"There's the little bait, sister," the one that had first noticed Kurama said. "And look, she's hiding behind a mutt."

"How very fortunate for us. We'll get double the fun now," replied the other as they stepped towards us.

I took a step back and moved my hand on the broom so that the head of it was facing them. "Leave right now and I won't have to hurt you," I said hoping that they wouldn't call my bluff. Yusuke always said that the key to a successful bluff was to be confident but that is kinda hard to be when it's two against one. I'm not even close to being a Level B. C maybe but never a Level B, and from the looks of the dogs they were almost Bs.

"You're going to use a broom against us?" said one of the dogs as the other laughed.

I tried to give them a sly grin but I knew that my hands were shaking as I took another step back and into my bedroom. "A very special broom," I replied.

"What can it do?"

"Fly?"

I shook my head. "No, I can do that all myself. This broom can fight."

The two almost doubled over in laughter.

"Using a broom against us! How pathetic!"

I was just about to run forward and run out the door with the kitten while they were distracted when a wind suddenly blew through the window, and the dogs sniffed curiously.

"You have the scent of a fox on you," one declared. "I wonder how desperate the guy was."

I ignored her and looked towards my open window. I hated the idea of leaving my house vulnerable like this but it was the only way. The dogs were no longer distracted so I couldn't run by them and there was no way I would win in a fight. Gritting my teeth, I readied myself but paused when I felt pain in my wrist. Something started running over my wrist and onto the floor, but I ignored it. No longer waiting, I turned the broom so that it was horizontal to me and threw it at the dogs. They paused for a moment to catch the broom and in that moment, I grabbed the kitten and ran to the stairs that led to the roof.

The dogs howled behind us, and I knew we only had a few seconds, so I jumped off the roof and flapped my wings. I had never tried flying holding onto someone but the kitten didn't move much so I didn't have to worry about losing balance in the air and crashing. From below on the roofs, the dogs barked and cursed at us. The kitten didn't hear though because I had one hand over her ears and petting her head while the other was wrapped safely around her waist.

Suddenly two more figures appeared on the roof and attacked the dogs. I held the kitten close to me and covered her eyes. She probably had already seen demons killed, but if she hadn't, I didn't want to be the one who allowed her to watch. Once the dogs had been thrown off the roof, one of the figures waved up to me. "Tama-chan! Neini-chan!" shouted a familiar female voice.

Once I recognized it as Neyuki's, I landed on the roof and put the kitten down. She instantly ran in Neyuki's arms who hugged her and then pulled back and said, "Neini-chan! I told you to stay with mom and dad! Why didn't you listen!?"

"Dogs got into the safe house so mum and dad told me to find you," the kitten, Neini, replied, her voice getting faster and more animated as she talked. "But some dogs followed me so I ran into a house and she was there," she pointed at me, "but the dogs followed us in and then she threw a broom at them and jumped off the roof and we were flying! Did you see me flying, One-chan?!"

Neyuki sighed. "Yes I saw you but you are not allowed to leave my side now, got it?"

Neini grinned "Got it!"

"Cute kid, but really silly at times," Neichi said as he stood beside me.

I nodded as I watched the two sisters talk. "Yeah, do you have any siblings, Neichi-kun?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Just me, myself, and I unless you would like to join us." He gave me a flirtatious grin, and again I amazed myself by not blushing.

If Kurama had done the same, I probably would have been a thousand colours of red, but Neichi just didn't have that same effect on me. Maybe because it isn't Hraru? I asked myself.

He stopped grinning for a moment before he put his face inches from me and breathed. A frown worked its way onto his face as he said, "Did you run into a fox on your way here?"

I nodded. "He didn't do anything though." Other than be a jerk, I mentally added.

Neichi frowned and looked down at my wrist. "Is that where you got that bite from?"

I frowned as well and lifted my wrist to my view. The slave bite Kurama had given me was starting to bleed, and I couldn't sense or feel his energy in or covering it. I couldn't tell Neichi that Kurama had given me the bite because he thought he was Neyou, but I wasn't very good at lying either. I settled for half the truth. "Sorta. I got bit from a fox, but that was as a slave."

"How long ago?"

"A few months, but I ran away."

Neichi smiled. "I'm glad." He raised my wrist to his mouth and started to lick the bite as Kurama had when he first gave it to me. But this time, instead of smoothing the pain, his licks only caused more as his sandpaper tongue rubbed painfully against the bite. "He must have given up ownership of you in order for that bite to reopen like that."

"Speaking of men," Neyuki said as she walked over with her hand on Neini's wrist, "Where is Neyou-san?"

I pulled my hand away from Neichi and turned to face Neyuki. "We had a fight, and he is now running around the city on his own. Probably gone to pick a fight with some dogs," I said.

Neyuki closed her eyes shook her head. "Men. What are you doing to go about them?"

I shrugged, and Neichi wrapped his arm around me. "You could always leave Neyou and be my mate."

"He's not my mate," I said coldly, hoping that they would stop talking about him.

Neyuki frowned with wide eyes. "Why are you travelling with someone who isn't your mate? Is he your half-brother or something?"

"No, he was just a friend but lately he has been acting weird. It's like I don't even know him anymore." Or never did in the first place. "And I don't have a mate."

Neyuki nodded in understanding and her frown disappeared. "Oh I get it now. That bite is just a scar from a fight. Sorry about that, it just seemed like yours and Neyou-san's energy were merged when you were standing side by side."

"Energy merged?" I asked. I have a vague idea of what mating entailed but I had never heard of energy merging.

Neyuki frowned again. "Yeah, when you mate your energy merges through the bite."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"How old are you?" Neyuki asked.

"Twenty-six."

Neyuki nodded. "That would explain why you don't know. That and the fact that you probably weren't raised with either side of your family."

I twitched, remembering Kurama's angry words about how my mother never cared. How no one would.

Grabbing Neini from under her arms, Neyuki handed the kitten to Neichi. "Play with her. Tama-chan and I need to have a talk."

Pouting slightly, Neichi took the girl over to the other side of the room leaving Neyuki and I to talk.

"So about mating?" I asked as I turned to face her.

She nodded. "You know about how different things demons do have different meanings?"

"Like a kiss on the check means ownership but a kiss on the lips means 'I think you could be my mate'?"

She nodded again. "Do you know what the difference between a slave bite, a mating bite, and a normal bite are?"

"Energy?"

"A normal bite doesn't have any energy injected into it. Whereas, a slave bite has energy injected into it but as a covering to broadcast the fact that the demon is owned. Both of these bites can be placed anywhere on the body. However, a mating mark can only be placed on the neck where it can be seen easily so that other demons can see that the demon wearing the mark is taken."

I frowned. "Why does it need to be easily seen?"

"Because while the demon is being bitten, the energy that is injected into the system merges with the bitten's energy. Unless the two demons are standing side by side, most demons can't tell unless they try to harm that demon. Then the merged energy will separate and attack the attackers or create a barrier until the other mate can show up and help, but that only works when the mate is alive. If the mate dies the energy remains merged but doesn't separate anymore. Did that make any sense?"

I nodded.

"So that's how the marks work, and every demon race uses them. Only for some races the marks will disappear after the mating season ends. Cats and bats mate for life too like most demons. You can also mate without being marked, but without the mark, the mating isn't bonding," Neyuki finished.

"What about foxes?" I quickly covered my mouth as the sentence slipped out. Of all times for my curse to act up, it had to do that when being friendly with a canine could get you in serious trouble. If they thought that I knew about the dog army, they would have torture me, and I might have accidently mentioned that Kurama was in Demon World. Then all the demons who hated him would have attacked him and he would have been killed.

Neyuki didn't seem worried about my question though or interested in why I was asking. "I think they are seasonal maters," she replied. "But I heard that after a certain age they switch to being life-long maters. I think the cat I heard it from said they had to be at least have their second tail for that to happen."

From behind I felt Neichi wrap an arm around my waist and pull me close. "But if you are unhappy with your mate, you can always act like some humans and leave your mate for a new one," Neichi said suggestively.

Neyuki glared at him over my shoulder. "Weren't you supposed to be watching Neini-chan?"

"She's amused," Neichi said before turning his attention back to me. As his hands moved to play with my hair, I resisted the urge to kick him. It felt too much like when the demons cornered me in the alley way and forced me into Human World. Instead of kicking him, I pulled away.

"I'm guessing Neyou-kun won't be back for a while," Neyuki said as she glared at Neichi behind me.

I nodded.

Suddenly, two little arms were wrapped around my knees and holding the bottom parts of my wings to my legs. "Come with us!" Neini said when I looked down and saw her. "Come with us! We travel all over!"

Neyuki came up from behind and pulled the kitten off of me and said, "Tama-chan has to find Neyou-san right now."

"Then she can find him and he can come with us!" the kitten said with a happy grin on her face. "We can all travel together!"

"Actually, I'm not looking for Neyou-kun right now," I said awkwardly. "I think he just needs some time. He'll find me when he needs me." Which is never since I'm useless to the mission and that's all he cares about, I silently said to myself.

"Then travel with us!" Neini demanded. "We recruit people! You can help!"

Neyuki nodded. "We're the recruitment party for the cats. Right now we are trying to find some of our cousins to help in the war. We can't let the dogs outnumber us."

I nodded as terror entered my system. Even though I had nowhere else to go, I didn't want to join the war. I didn't want to take part in the killing, especially when I refused to join the dogs with Kurama for that reason. "I'm not a fighter though."

Neyuki shook her head. "None of us really are. The only reason we are fighting is because some idiots picked a fight with a dog so the dog's family got involved and then the cats' family got involved and so on. Unfortunately though, more and more demons are getting roped into this. The only reason we are in this war is to try to cripple it."

"How?"

Neichi grinned. "You go to the heart of the matter."

"You're going to find out what caused the fight and fix it?"

Neichi and Neyuki leaned sharply to the side with a forced grin on their faces. "Most demons aren't content with a happy ending," Neyuki said.

"We're going for the generals," Neichi said bluntly.

I felt my face start to drain of colour. "Oh." I wasn't sure what to do. If I went with the cats then I would be ruining my point that I gave Kurama, but if I didn't, then I wouldn't have any way to find Rose.

While I was laying on my bed thinking about how painful Kurama's words were the night of the fight, I remembered why I was even in Demon World. Rose was being hunted because I was too stupid to be able to avoid killing two humans. If I wasn't so stupid, then Koenma probably would have just left Rose alone because the mirror was broken and useless. Through my tears, I decided to find Rose and explain the situation. I believed that with her help, I could at least save her from my mistakes even if I couldn't save myself. More than anything, I just wanted to make up for my mistakes and start over so that maybe I could prove Kurama and my mother wrong about how no one could honestly care for me. I knew that I wouldn't be able to do that in my current life though, and I was too weak to commit suicide, so my only option was to serve my sentence in jail until I died. Then maybe my life would be better and worth living, maybe even worth saving.

"Are you okay, Tama-chan?" Neyuki asked as she put her hand on my shoulder.

Kurama was right that I didn't have anywhere to go other than jail or Demon World, and since he had the communication mirror I couldn't contact Botan to take me back to the prison. So the only way to end the mission was to find Rose. However, the only way to find Rose was to join the war but joining the war met forgoing my point about not going with Kurama.

Two arms squeezed my legs again causing me to look down into Neini's face. "Tama-chan?" she asked quietly.

Neini's eyes made my decision for me. "I would be honoured to join you," I found myself saying.

Neyuki grinned and shook my hand. "Welcome to the resistance and the family."

When the cats smiled at me, I found myself thinking, 'This life won't matter for much longer so what does a lost argument mean anyways?' So I followed them off the roof and into my new life-style until I would be returned to the jail where I would die and finally be able to start again with a better beginning.

A/N: 1. I have no idea how the plants work, I am merely making this up so if I'm wrong don't blame me. Blame Togashi-sama for not explaining Kurama's plants fully.

2. Who do you want to win the war? Dogs or cats? (Feel free to be as biased as you wish.)

3. Not much else to say other than this took me much longer than I would have liked to get done but it's long so I think that makes it work. Anyways, I love Neini even if every time I go to type her name I type Neichi. I use his name too much. Yusuke was fun to write too though. His little spazzing moment back there.

Anyways, thanks for reading and the reviews! I hope you are enjoying the story even if it seems to have reached a low place from which it is taking forever to raise out of. It will soon, believe me. See ya next chapter and please tell me what is your favourite part of the story so far.

-D101