Negi crept out of his room later that evening, and followed the hallway until he reached the entrance of the manor. He silently opened them and took flight, aiming for the roof…a place where he knew he could get lost mentally. When he finally reached his destination, he saw he wasn't the only one there; the usual people were there, with one knew visitor and one missing comrade.

Asuna waved him over and he took his seat between her and Setsuna, the elder sitting to Asuna's other side.

"I take it Kotaro's not joining us tonight?" Negi stated more than asked.

"No, he's spending time with Yue…with all that's happening between them, I don't blame him for not showing," Setsuna replied.

Negi nodded and gave a straight-forward glance to the rest of the large town. In the day, people could be seen from all over…warriors, wizards, mundane, and even some species of humanoid's Negi had never seen before…at least not in person. But the night time was much different; candles flickered in the windows of those who were still awake, and a few of the houses had a magical source of lighting. All in all, it looked like the town was a mirror for the evening sky, with little tiny dots shining brightly across its great expanse.

"Setsuna, don't transform in your battle," Negi declared, Setsuna simply looked over at him, "Fight with your Shenmei Ru, but don't show them your true colors just yet. I doubt even the highly trained soldiers of this town could hold up against the prejudice of an entire city."

The half-bird returned her gaze to the city, and there was a moment of silence that fell over the group. After a few minutes, Asuna couldn't hold back her comment and whispered for all of them to hear, "This town is so lovely and peaceful…nothing like the tides to come…"

- - - - - - - -

Kotaro was holding Yue's stomach gently; she was sitting in his lap, leaning against his bare chest. The two were only in their undergarments…they had intended to go directly to sleep, but Yue had started crying, and this was one of the only things Kotaro could think of to make her feel better.

Yue leaned back against his body and leaned slightly to the left, moving her head in a position to kiss him. He slowly reached and put his hand to her cheek, but as he was moving his lips to hers, he felt Yue shift slightly. Instead of kissing him, she was nuzzling his neck. Without knowing it, Yue was committing one of the dog tribe's more sacred acts of endearment.

Yue, on the other hand, had no idea what she was doing. At first, she had meant to kiss Kotaro, but when her face got close enough to his, she smelled something she hadn't smelled before. It was almost a sort of musk, but it was intoxicating and the next thing she knew, she was nuzzling her cheek against Kotaro's neck. But Kotaro didn't seem to mind, in fact, this had been the beginning of his courtship of 

Yue. He was one of the Inugami, and this was how the first began the act of making love…it was all too natural to him for him to question it.

The next thing Yue knew, she had turned around on him on the bed, and the two of them were sitting on their knees and hands. Instinctively, she nuzzled his neck again with her face, and continued so her neck was touching his, and then the side of her back was against his chest. He quickly returned with a swift maneuver around Yue, making sure to have physical contact with his bare skin to hers, sliding across her back. He then crawled under her body and let his bare back run across her chest. When he cleared out from under her, he looked her over quickly, completely lost in his and her combined scent; it was like a drug to the both of them. But something caught his attention…when he looked her over he noticed she had white fox ears on top of her head and a white tail…at least he thought she did. He was completely lost in the musk of their scent and wasn't sure of much of anything at the moment.

Yue was much the same…she couldn't tell heads from tails right now…all she knew was that she was lavishing Kotaro with her body and that it was one of the most pleasing things she had ever done…she felt as though she were giving her entire self to him. Kotaro felt the same, but innately the two both knew that they were performing a mating dance on the other, but neither cared…this was what they wanted…this was who they wanted.

Yue closed her fist into a paw and rubbed her shoulder and then back into Kotaro. When she finally lay down before him, exposing herself in all vulnerability, she too her pawed hand and put it to Kotaro's cheek. He pawed his in unison and placed it on the center of her chest. As he moved in closer to kiss her, both paws opened to a full hand, and the two kissed. The two were so preoccupied in each other and their scent that neither of them noticed Kotaro's black and brown tail had moved and wrapped them together…and a similar white and brown one did the same.

- - - - - - - -

"Kotaro! Yue!" Nodoka almost screamed as she and Negi entered their room.

The two had passed out under the covers, Yue's was still laying on top of Kotaro when they awoke. Yue immediately realized that the two were staring at them and pulled the sheets up to her face.

"What are you two doing?! We're indecent!" she screamed, her face turning red.

She was answered by two fingers pointing above Yue's head. She immediately looked up and at the ceiling…nothing was there.

"What are you two pointing at?" she asked.

"Your ears…" Kotaro responded, a strange feeling overcoming him, "Your ears and tail…"

"What?" was Yue's only answer before she patted the top of her head. She felt something fuzzy and warm on the top of her head…two somethings…and then she moved her hands to where her human ears were, but they weren't there anymore.



"What they hell's going on here?!" she yelled, but she immediately recoiled. She noticed Kotaro had too, so it was a safe assumption that it was because of her new ears.

"What happened…?" she asked herself, stroking her ears.

"So…pretty…" was all she heard as Nodoka ran up to her and began rubbing her ears and stroking her tail. Reflexively Yue began to lean in to the petting…she realized why Kotaro liked it so much. Unfortunately, a jealous Kotaro was quick to shoo her away.

"Now you're going to have to scratch them for me," Yue stated, upset that her treatment had ended.

Kotaro blushed, but smiled sweetly at her, looking her over lovingly.

"What is it, Kotaro?" she asked.

"I had no idea that it was possible for someone to become so much more beautiful…when I thought they were the epitome of beauty before…" he replied.

She nuzzled his neck and took in his scent. The only thing that crossed her mind at this moment was a single, somehow appropriate thought, 'No wonder Kotaro always got lost in my scent like this…he has it good!'

"Umm…Yue…Kotaro…?" Negi interrupted the two as they were beginning to nuzzle and play with each other again. The two forced themselves to stop and they gave Negi their attention.

"You guys realize you're still not clothed…right?"

The two were chased out of the room by pillows and books…each being thrown at a high velocity.

It was almost like Kotaro and Yue's relationship had jumped to a higher level; they were always playing around and staying close to each other. Negi could only conclude that the two liked the way the other smelled…and it was their scents that attracted them to one another so frequently. But one answer had finally been attained, leaving so many more in its wake. Yue wasn't pregnant…she was a half-breed…of the Inugami tribe.

As the group reached the coliseum, which they could have sworn wasn't there the day before , Yue informed the elder of the strange occurrence, and he agreed that he no longer sensed the strange magical presence about her, but that she felt the same as Kotaro. She was given a number and a regiment that she was to face.

Though she had just turned Inugami the night before, she knew instinctively how to hide her ears in her hair, and her tail stayed under her skirt. The group were given their numbers and told to take their places at the side benches surrounding the pit of the coliseum. When they entered the arena, they noticed the seats were full of military officers and enlisted personnel. It appeared the elder was quite strict about who would learn of the group's involvement in the war and who would never even know they existed.



"I wish I could tell you that this gathering has been called for your viewing pleasure, but it hasn't. The Bird Tribe are marching towards us now. We are expected to meet them in battle in less than a month, and for that, I have brought eight guests to show you where you stand and where you need to improve," the elder stated in a magically amplified voice, "You are all going to compete in at least one battle today…and quite possibly more than that."

The entire coliseum was engulfed in noise…so much that Yue had to put her hands over her ears.

"You'll get used to it, Yue," Kotaro consoled.

"Our first challenger is Kagurazaka Asuna…and our first regiment must please step forward.

The soldiers took to the stairs and were finally all at the ground level in the pit when Asuna finally stood up. She had suspected something like this may have happened: the majority of this regiment were wizards…so she was getting a bad end of the deal. While she wouldn't even get a worthwhile fight, the militia before her would get plenty of battle experience against a foe that was extremely rare.

She stood on the edge of the pit, a good forty feet in the air, and dropped to the ground. Several gasps were released from the group…they'd expected a girl like her to fall to her death over something of that height…or cast some powerful levitation magic. She did neither, and she landed as light as a feather. This act in itself brought wonder to the girls abilities, but what she did next sent them into an immediate guard.

With a single word and a blinding light, there was a titanic sword in her hand, drawn to kill.

"I don't plan on killing any of you," she commented idly, "But you better aim to kill me, because if you don't, you have no chance of winning."

There were gulps from the regiment and, when Fleaux ordered the command to begin, she noticed an attack formation appear. Wizards had taken the focal points around the area and began casting their most powerful spells.

"You'd better be casting something to help your comrades!" she screamed, swiping her sword at the air. An enormous blast of energy collided with the main force and slammed them back into the walls. Only a select few had managed to duck, but from the sounds of the wizards surrounding her, they thought they had an ace up their sleeves. When the spells were completed, massive blasts of air, fire, water, and earth all appeared and collided with her. At least they thought they collided.

When the smoke cleared, even the elder's mouth was left on the floor. She didn't have a scratch on her.

"You need to focus on your teammates," she scolded, dusting off her cloak, "Because you never know what abilities your opponents may have. Absolute Magic Cancelling, for example."

The wizards didn't bother trying to debate whether she was telling the truth or not. They dropped their weapons and surrendered.



"You guys get all the fun!" she screamed up to Negi, Kotaro, and the others.

She quickly dispatched the remaining infantry and gave an ill-approving gaze to the elder. He covered his eyes in embarrassment. There were thirty two of his men lying unconscious on the battlefield…unconscious from the attacks of a twenty-five year old woman.

"That was a disappointment!" the elder yelled out to his troops, "You didn't even last a moment! You're part of the largest military in existence right now, and if you can't even give a young woman a challenge, what point is there of your being here?"

He didn't even give the troops time to discuss their defeat.

"Next up is Regiment two, and Setsuna."

Setsuna quietly walked down to the arena and took her place opposite the arriving regiment. She gave a quick bow to the others and, in etiquette, they returned her bow, only to be scared out of their skin. The eyes that glared at them were nearly a perfect white, but one could see the hint of blue surrounding where her pupils should be.

"What are you?" the man in front called out.

"Begin!" the elder announced in his magical voice.

"I am Shenmei School Martial Artist, Sakurazaka Setsuna."

The man didn't have any idea what the Shenmei School was…and he didn't have time to ponder it. In less than a moment's notice, he was on the ground unconscious.

The other combatants slowly backed away from the girl, giving her distance as to get a proper measure of her abilities.

"Trying to get distance is pointless," she stated, now behind the group. They all turned to face her when she attacked from where she had originally been standing.

"What's going on here? Two of you?" a soldier cried out, getting slammed into the stone.

"Shadow clones…" the elder whispered to himself, amazed that he had lived long enough to see such mastery of the technique.

Slowly, the battle was left between Setsuna and one man who was still rather shaken from having to defend against two of her.

"You're not bad," Setsuna complimented, and she disappeared from where she was standing.

The man hit the ground, puking from a hard punch to the gut.

"Just not good enough…" she finished.