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Chapter 11: A New Player

-Faith's POV-

I stood at the front door of Genkai's temple with Kurama. The whole walk to the temple was a blur, so much, that I didn't even remember walking. My hand hesitated just before it reached the door handle. Seconds passed and it remained in that position with me staring at it. Kurama's hand entered my line of vision and took mine. I looked up at him and he smiled. His other hand reached the door handle and did what mine could not; it opened the door. We walked in and shut the door. Walking into the living room, we heard nothing but silence and in this temple, that's never a good thing. We made our way to the living room and what I saw I will never forget. Hiei and Ayamae were making out on the couch with Kuwabara and Yusuke standing in the doorway, on the opposite side of the room, which led to the kitchen, with their mouths hanging open. Genkai sat sipping a cup of tea in an armchair beside Hiei and Aya's couch.

"Ayamae Kaedae Masuko!" I said loudly, yet not yelling.

Her head emerged from beneath Hiei's at the mention of her full name.

"Oh, hello, Faith."

"Don't 'hello' me. What in the nine circles of hell are you doing!"

Both Hiei and Ayamae sat up and for the first time noticed everybody was in the room looking at them.

"There's a really good explanation for this," Ayamae said.

"Yeah, right."

"No, really, there is. It's just not one that I care to say out loud with everyone listening."

Well, tell me telepathically.

I have a story to tell you later, but anyway, I'm in heat.

"Oh, that makes sense but…" is he taking advantage of you or are you allowing this.

There was no answer.

"So much for the Queen of Ice Hearts."

"I was thinking the exact same thing earlier." Why are you holding Kurama's hand?

I blushed a deep, crimson red and Ayamae laughed.

"And where have you been?" Ayamae asked, seeing how I was dressed and the water dripping from both me and Kurama.

"Nowhere," I answered.

"Everybody's got to be somewhere," Ayamae said wisely.

Well, it wasn't that wise considering it was a line from the movie Small Soldiers.

"I'll tell you later," I said and walked off to my room, dragging Kurama along with me.

I emerged from my bathroom and threw Kurama a towel. I left his side to turn on the floor lamp and when I turned back around his back was to me. For some reason I felt drawn to him and before I knew it I was standing six inches from him. I couldn't stop myself before my hand touched his back. He half turned to look at me and I had to do some quick thinking.

"Do you need anything else?"

"I'm going to go to my room to change. I'll be back in a moment."

"Ok," I said and he left.

I sighed with relief and changed into some long, black, comfortable pants and a red halter top that showed skin from the mid-back and up, in the back.

I brushed out my hair and then plopped down in the middle of my queen-sized bed, laying on my stomach. I grew bored almost immediately and looked around my room. Anyone who walked into my room would immediately notice the red walls with the Japanese symbol for 'Faith' big and black on the right wall. The head of my bed stood against the wall opposite the door with black sheets and white pillows that matched the white carpet, with two nightstands, one adorning each side of my bed and one window, with a window seat, on each side of that. Bookshelves lined the wall to the left, except where the bathroom door stood. The right wall, on the left side of the 'Faith' symbol, was the door to my walk-in closet and on the right side of the symbol sat two big, black chairs with the floor lamp between them and a low, round table in front of them.

Kurama walked in wearing a white martial arts outfit. I guess he didn't find it appropriate to be in my room with his pajamas on.

I stared at him, unable to stop. He sniffed the air and immediately the realization hit me.

"That's not Ayamae, it's…"

I buried my head in my arms, "It's me."

I felt him sit on the bed and I quickly got off of it. His look was that of sympathy and I didn't care for it. I turned away from him, trying to decide what to do about the situation.

Just what the team needs, two females in heat. To make it worse, it happens on the day Kurama and I start going out.

"It is bad enough Aya's in heat, now I am."

I felt Kurama's arms wrap around me and his chin rest on my shoulder. I didn't move and I didn't breathe. I stood there, tense.

"Relax, we'll get through this. You'll get though this."

He turned me around in his arms and I started to breathe again, but remained tense. I opened my eyes and looked into his. Almost immediately I relaxed and I realized I had almost lost all control. I fought as hard as I could and while I was doing that my body decided to make a move. I was kissing him deeply and passionately. I wasn't complaining or anything. It was quite enjoyable, for the lack of a better description. The only problem was that I thought my body would go further… it did. My hands went to his chest and started to unbutton his shirt. Kurama's hands grabbed mine gently, stopping my movements. He slowly pulled back and I slowly regained control. I looked down at our hands, which now were between us, level with our waists.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

He drew me into a hug, my arms crossed over my chest and my head lay on his chest. His right hand stroked my hair softly I glanced at my clock; it read 11:45pm.

I sighed, "I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to go to bed."

I gave him a quick kiss and he left.

I went over to the left side of my bed and pulled a wooden box out from under it. I crawled up onto my bed with the box and opened it. I pulled some calming herbs out of it and went to the kitchen.

"Hey, Faith," Yusuke's voice came from behind me.

I half-turned to see him with an evil grin on his face. I turned back toward the stove and took the kettle off the burner, pouring some of the boiling water into two cups and setting it back down on the burner. I added my homemade teabags filled with the calming herbs. I heard Yusuke walk up behind me and I wondered what he was up to.

I decided to bring up a random subject, "So, Yusuke, I heard from Kuwabara you have a girlfriend. Keiko, I think her name is."

"She was."

"Was? You guys broke up?" I asked, turning around, suddenly curious.

"Yeah."

He was now only a foot away, looking down at me with the same evil grin on his face.

He continued, "I overheard part of the conversation you and Kurama were having. The part where you said you were in heat, just like Ayamae."

It suddenly hit me. Yusuke, of all people, was trying to take advantage of me. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to him. I felt myself slowly slipping away and my animal instincts rising to the surface.

The last thing I managed to whisper was Kurama's name.

-In Kurama's room; Kurama's POV-

I sat down on one of the chairs that adorned my room, picking up a book that I started reading. About five minutes into it I realized I wouldn't be able to continue. All my thoughts revolved around Faith. We had known each other for such a short amount of time and we were already dating. To add to that she was in heat, which was going to make our relationship harder until it passed. I sat there, pondering ways to work around this when I got this weird feeling that something was wrong. It felt as though Faith needed me. I stood up and followed her scent to the kitchen.

-In the kitchen with Faith; Faith's POV-

He leaned down and kissed me deeply. I was unable to stop him. It was then that I sensed it. This wasn't Yusuke, but another of Hiroyuki's demons, except this time he was much smarter and in no way, shape or form a low class demon.

Damn it all! If I wasn't in heat I could kick this son-of-a-bitch's ass!

All of a sudden he was pulled off of me by Kurama. I regained control.

"Shape-shifter!" I hissed.

Kurama stood at my side now and I was glad he knew it wasn't Yusuke.

"Correct. You're smarter than I thought. I'll keep that in mind next time."

"What makes you so sure there will be a next time?" Kurama asked.

The shape-shifter ignored Kurama but answered his question, directing the answer toward me.

"You wouldn't kill your brother. Would you?"

"You're not… my…" I started to yell, but my voice slowly grew softer as he shape-shifted into my dead brother.

My face filled with pain and hurt and agony. "No," I whispered, "You're not. You can't be."

I tightly shut my eyes and then opened them to make sure I wasn't seeing anything. I wasn't, but he vanished. He had teleported, but it was not done by him.

I slowly turned to the two cups of tea. With slightly shaking hands I picked up one and drank it. At first sip by sip and then I gulped the whole thing down. I threw my leftover teabag away and set the cup by the sink to be washed with the breakfast dishes tomorrow. Kurama watched me the whole time. We stood there looking at each other for a long time until I broke the eye contact and sat down at the dining room table. He pulled up a chair beside me.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

"I'm not so sure anymore. Life used to be so simple. I'd skip school and then get into fights with all the other students who skipped." I laughed. "Aya's been trying to get me to stop fighting. In a way, I'm kind of like Yusuke."

"Becoming a Spirit Detective is no easy change, especially when you're a demon. Give it time."

"Whatever you say."

He laughed and put an arm around me, "Is that so?"

"Maybe a little."

We sat in silence for a moment.

"Kurama, we'll tell the others about the demon tomorrow. Right now, I have to bring Aya her tea."

I stood up and picked the other cup of tea up in my hands. It had cooled considerably, but I knew Aya would heat it up to her liking.

We walked down the hallway, past other rooms until we reached Aya's door. He kissed me goodnight and I watched him walk down the hall and disappear into his room. I knocked on Aya's door, seconds later hearing her tell me to come in. I opened her door and saw her lying on her bed playing with Kuma. I smiled at the cat and then looked toward Ayamae.

"I brought you some tea that might help with our common problem."

"Common? It's common now?"

I nodded and handed her the tea. "You can heat it up to your liking. I better get off to bed."

With that, I left.

-The next morning with all of us in the living room-

"Yusuke, sorry if this is prying, but did you and Keiko break up?" I asked a little uncomfortable about the question.

"Yes, but how did you know? I haven't told anyone."

"Let's just say a little demon told me."

Both Kurama and I proceeded to explain what happened last night while Aya and I finished off a cup of the calming tea we'd had the night before.

"He turned into me!" Yusuke yelled aloud to himself, "And did THAT!"

"I agree with the part where he turned into you. One Yusuke is bad enough. As for the last part, pray Foxy doesn't take it the wrong way," Aya commented.

"Shut up!"

"I'd like to see you make me," Aya said and Hiei smirked.

"Children!" I yelled which got everyone's attention. "Chill out."

"Faith, grr-down."

"Let's focus on the problem at hand, shall we?"

"Foxy is right. We have a new adversary and know little about him. Plus, we don't know anything about this Sayuri person," Aya explained.

"So, what's the plan? Do we just sit around and wait for any of them to attack us or do we go to Hiroyuki?" Yusuke asked. "Do we even know where Hiroyuki is?"

Aya and I looked at each other.

"I might," I volunteered.

"I say we go to him," Hiei inputted for the first time that day.

We kind of figured that, Aya telepathically told Hiei.

Hiei glared at her.

"It's settled then. We'll have a little visit with him tomorrow afternoon," Yusuke decided.

"If we have the time away from mission from everyone's dearest Lord Koenma," Aya commented, rising out of her seat.

Faith followed suit, the two friends entering Faith's room to share their recent encounters.

"So, do you want to tell me this explanation that you couldn't share with the others in company?" Faith asked.

"Fine," Ayamae sighed. "It was two days ago, the day I found out I was in heat. I'd felt like being mean and showing Hiei that I'd win in a battle of wits, even if we tie in a battle of strength, and I'd gone out to the living room to take over the window seat. I told him to move, he resisted, you know how guys work, and I was going to make him. Well, my plan to scare him enough by seduction to make him move backfired, my body took control. I actually untucked his shirt and was unbuckling his belt when Kuma came in and wake me up, if you can call it waking up. But, that's the first part of it."

"First part? Do tell!"

"Fine... The day you found us making out on the couch, I'd waken up and realized that I'd missed guard practice and hadn't touched my flag since last week and went outside to practice on the battle field. I warmed up, a demon came, I shoved the flag through his head, I started looking for the hose..."

"Wait! Through his head! How much resistance did his skull give? How much blood was there? Was the death instant or drawn out? You gotta give me more detail than that you shoved a guard flag through his head!" Faith cried, excitement projecting her voice.

"Some resistance, I have the largest weight because I'm too strong for my own good, but not much. The blood, there was a lot! I shoved a fucking hole through his nose to the back of his head and out again for crying out loud! But, it stunk horribly! It was unbearable! And, yes, the death was instant. But, anyway, I started looking for the hose, Hiei complemented me, wouldn't tell me exactly where the hose was, at first wouldn't get it, but he finally did."

"That's not a good sign."

"Yeah, I know. He came back with it and sprayed me down from head to foot! Then, it CAN get worse! He stood there staring at my chest! I yelled at him and tried to smack him, but he stopped my hand and my other arm was covering my chest, so you see my dilemma!" Ayamae exclaimed. "But, then he wiped water from my cheek. His hands were rough, those that have used a sword many times over time. But, despite the roughness of his skin, his touch was soft... so soft..."

"Aww! Is Ayamae, the Queen of Ice Hearts, falling for a guy?"

"I think I love him Faith... I really do..." Ayamae began, but quickly continued her story upon seeing Faith's look of dreaminess, "but, anyway, he stepped closer to me, moved his hand behind my head... I knew what he was thinking... and I didn't want to stop him... He kissed me; his lips were really soft for a fighter... almost to the point of being creepy... but... I could tell he wanted to move it to the next step. I'll admit, I did too. The way he kissed me, like an old pro. I feel almost insignificant when I'm with him! He's experienced, I know it! And... I'm not... But, I need to finish my story. I made him stop after a time, for I know he was going to advance another step, and I didn't feel ready for that. Stupid me, I said that we needed to take things at a steady pace. Of course, he knew that I meant that I wanted our, I guess you can call it, relationship to go further some day. I had to admit it, he got smug. I told him to shut up and that if he ever took advantage of me I'd kill him. He said fine, kissed me and left."

"That's cute, Pyra! You've found your knight in shining armor!"

"Well, his isn't so shining... more blood stained, but I love that about him..."

"Only you, Pyra, only you."

"Yeah? Well, what about your all-day-play-date with Kurama? Any marks I need to know about?" Ayamae joked playfully, her mood enhanced greatly.

I playfully glared at her, "No. Mine is fairly similar to yours. Water was involved, among other things."

There was silence. Faith had a look of thoughtful bliss on her face. Aya watched her for a bit, amused. Finally she waved her had in front of her face, bringing her out of her reverie.

"So, are you going to tell me or leave me hanging?" Ayamae asked impatiently.

"I'll leave you hanging."

"Fine. I'll have to find out the hard way."

Faith's playful smile turned into a frown when she realized what her sister was planning to do.

"Don't even think about asking Kurama. He won't tell you."

"I have my ways."

"Ok! Fine! I'll tell." Faith took a deep breath and plunged into her story telling. "I was in the lake doing a bit of training when Kurama comes up and sits on a rock at the water's edge. He asked me if I cared to join him or if he had to go in there and get me. Of course, being me, I picked the latter and he said he was joking when he said that."

"Yep, just like you."

I glared at her for interrupting and then continued, "Well, I formed my new darkness technique, which I'll have to show you some time. It forms ball of darkness around the person who I cast it on, so to them it appears pitch black. The ball will remain around them at all times until I make it dissipate or until the person I cast it on finds a way to break through it. Anyway, Kurama, who still sat on the edge of the rock, made to stand up, but instead fell in the lake. We stood there for a minute or two, just staring into each other's eyes. He moved a piece of hair out of my face, but his hand remained on my cheek. It was then that he slowly leaned forward and lightly kissed me. We had only drew back a centimeter when he put his arm around my waist, pulled me to him, and kissed me with so much passion that my whole body seemed to tingle."

"Now, yours is more of a knight in shining armor."

"I don't think I like that cliché very much. I don't need anyone to save me, which is what that phrase is usually implied to mean. I just need someone who will love all of me, not just the surface and I really think Kurama is that someone."

Faith stood up, not waiting for Ayamae to comment, "I'm going for a walk. You want to join?"

"That's okay. I'm going to see what Hiei's up to."

I laughed and then we both went our separate ways.

On my way out the door I ran into Kurama, literally.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"For a walk. Care to join?"

"I'd love to."

"Great. I was hoping I'd find somebody who would."

"Did you ask Ayamae?"

"Yeah, she's busy."

"With what?"

"Hiei."

Kurama laughed, "I never thought Hiei would find someone, let alone someone like himself."

"Same goes for Aya."

As we walked off I whispered to myself, "Same goes for me."

That's all for now people.

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