Chapter 14. An Unexpected Test.

Both the youkai and the ningen turned in confusion at the newcomer. He was tall, with silver hair reaching to his knees and dressed in a white tunic and battle slippers, his beauty too much to be considered truly human, but had that not been enough there were always the silvery ears and tail that looked a lot like those of a fox.

"Don't mess with me kitsune." The youkai hissed coldly. "I found this boy wandering alone, he will be my dinner."

"Not if I can help it." Youko refused in a growl.

"What?" The youkai asked mockingly. "Don't tell me one such as you can't catch some other simple ningen."

"I never said such thing." Youko was now really offended. "I just stated you won't be eating him, because I won't let you."

"Really? And what exactly do you plan to do to stop me?"

"Whatever it is needed."

In a blink of an eye the fight had begun.

In other circumstances the silver kitsune would have disposed of the 'offending-poor-excuse-for-a-youkai' easily using his whip, without even breaking a sweat; but right now his ningen mind kept side by side with his youkai one, giving his eyes a strange mix of green and gold, and not fully allowing the fox-thief to take control, repeating over and over again the danger the young boy, his to-be-step-brother was in.

Shuuichi didn't know what to do anymore. He had left his father's fiancée's house practically running, without really seeing where he was going to, he didn't even know his way around the neighborhood so it wasn't really much of a surprise when he noticed he was utterly lost. He had just begun considering the possibilities of asking for directions when he suddenly saw that strange creature, a monster, right behind him. He had tried to act as calmed as possible and get away, but he couldn't keep the façade for too long once he noticed the monster followed him for some reason. So he ran, he ran as fast as he could, not really caring where he got to as long as it was away from the creature; that was until he had seen his run abruptly cut short by the wall of that closed alleyway. The monster had clearly stated he was a youkai and what he wished was to eat Shuuichi, simple as that. Shuuichi had practically given up all hope and resigned to end as that monster's late dinner, or that was at least until his mysterious savior had appeared. For a second Shuuichi feared the newcomer would have the same intentions of eating him as his first persecutor, but for what he had heard the silver-haired man wished only to help Shuuichi; though as to why, the boy had no idea.

Shiruvya waited for what seemed like hours, though they weren't more than mere minutes until she saw it, her opportunity: Youko had the other youkai pinned against one of the lateral walls of the dead-end, the one farthest from where she was standing, this was the chance she had been waiting for.

Without a single second of doubt Shiruvya leapt from her hiding place, took Shuuichi's hand in her own and pulled him to run behind her and away from the alley as fast as their feet could carry them.

"What…?" Shuuichi was surprised by the sudden arrival and motion.

"No time now." Shiruvya interrupted him. "Lets get out 'a here before that monster breaks free from K…the kitsune."

Though Shiruvya knew saying her mate's name wouldn't exactly compromise his identity, it would indeed compromise her in a certain way because then Shuuichi would begin asking how she knew that youkai's name, where did she know him from, how they had found him and a lot more questions she didn't even want to imagine.

I have Shuuichi. Shiruvya sent the telepathic message to her mate. Be careful, I'll see you outside of Luna Park, two blocks from Shiori-oka-san's house.

Ok. Kurama's reply was immediate. I'll be there shortly, don't worry.

Alright. Shiruvya cut their contact short.

OoO

Shuuichi and Shiruvya continued running for several blocks until they finally reached Luna Park. It was practically empty, due to the late hour.

"Wait, lets take a break here." Shiruvya said sitting in a bench.

"But, what if that youkai comes after us?" Shuuichi asked.

"He won't." Shiruvya assured him. "He will be too busy trying to get himself to safety, and that is if he manages to make it away from the kitsune."

"I still don't understand why that kistune helped me." Shuuichi commented.

"Maybe he just happened to pass by and thought what was happening to you was unfair." Shiruvya tried hard to make up a convincing lie.

"Then I think he may have committed a mistake."

"What do you mean?"

"What was happening to me, it was all my own fault. After all I was the one who ran out from the house so violently, and without giving anyone a chance; and then I took to running even though I didn't know my way around the neighborhood."

"We thought as much, that's why we came out looking for you."

"We?"

"Yes. Shuichi is around looking for you too."

"And my father?"

"He wanted to come too, as well as mother Shiori; but Shuichi and I managed to convince them to stay at home while we came looking for you. Besides, mother was highly perturbed by your actions, she needed to calm down."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about that. I understand there must be a thousand reasons why you wouldn't like their marriage to take place. Though, I would still like to know what yours is. Is it something against Shiori-oka-san, or maybe Shuichi or…"

"No it's nothing against her or against any of you. I think Shiori is a very sweet and caring woman, and though I've known you for a very short time I believe you and Shuichi are just as wonderful as her."

"Then?"

"It's just that well, I told you how I've known you for such a little time. I mean, my father has barely known your mother for what? A little over a year? And they've dated each other for even less than that. I had just seen Shuichi about two or three times before tonight and you… Kami, I had never met you before tonight."

"So the only reason you oppose to this marriage is because you think things are too sudden?"

"Basically yes."

"Basically…so that means there is another reason. Will you tell me what is it…"

"Well…" He hesitated.

"Fine, then I'll make my guess. You and your father have been on your own for a long time, and now you fear that Shiori's coming will change everything you're used to, and especially that she'll take your father away from you. That's it, isn't it?"

"More or less…" he admitted lowering his eyes.

"Don't be ashamed. There's nothing wrong with you fearing to lose your father's attention. But I just want you to know that won't happen. Mama Shiori is a very sweet person, just like you said, and she's also selfless (though I'm not sure if that should be a quality), she would never let your father consider her more important that you, not that your father would ever do that anyway. You must know that the children always come first for a parent; so you'll always be the first thing on your father's mind, as it's to be expected that Shuichi will be the same for Shiori-oka-san."

"What about you?"

"Me, I'll be fine. She cared for me when I needed her the most, when I lost my parents and believed myself to be all alone; she was there to show me I wasn't alone, not really. I was away for three years, didn't return until shortly ago (which may be why you didn't know about me before); I mean to say I know Mom Shiori will always be there for me, but at the same time I know I'm not on the first place of her priority list."

"You know that, and yet you seem so calm."

"Because I know that no matter what position I occupy in anyone's list I know there are people who care for me, family, friends…"

"Your fiancé." Another voice finished.

Both Shiruvya and Shuuichi turned to se the newcomer, it was obviously Shuichi, back in his ningen form.

"Shuichi…" Shiruvya smiled as she hugged her mate.

Everything alright? She asked mentally.

That youkai won't damage another ningen ever again. He said for all answer.

That means…

I know you don't like me killing others koi but… He began explaining himself almost immediately, knowing well enough what his beloved thought of him murdering.

But you were defending those you cared about, someone who's almost your brother already, I know. She finished for him.

"So you found him." Shuichi said aloud.

"Yes." Shiruvya answered. "He was in a dark alley, some blocks away from here."

"In a dark alley?" Shuichi faked ignorance as he turned to the boy. "Why didn't you just asked for directions?"

"Well Shuichi, you see…" Shiruvya began.

"I couldn't very well stop and ask for directions while having a monster after me." Shuuichi interrupted her.

"A monster?" Shuichi asked.

"Yes, a monster, a youkai, whatever you wish to call it." Shuuichi explained. "He wanted to eat me, or something like that."

"So, some creature wanted to devour you, and you're so calmed?" Shuichi asked.

"Yes, because another youkai came to my rescue." Shuuichi answered, he suddenly seemed excited. "He was really tall, with long silver hair and golden eyes; he had a way of carrying himself around that showed he'd power that went far beyond that what can be measured with some punches or attacks. I could he must have been someone really important, powerful."

"You seem to know a lot about this rescuer of yours." Shuichi commented. "Do you, by any chance, know his name?"

"No." Shuuichi shook his head, he seemed almost sad. "I would really like to know, though the I only thing I know is he's a silver kitsune, a very powerful one, that for some unknown reason decided to protect some ningen like me; even when he didn't even know who I was, even when he had nothing to do with me, he saved me."

If you just knew… Shiruvya thought through the mate's link. Many times things aren't what they seem to be. If you just knew the truth…

But he can't know, nor can our mother, or his father. Shuichi said seriously. Not yet, not until we can guarantee their safety.

Then it seems it'll be a long time before they get to know. Shiruvya said.

But it's better this way. He insisted. This way they'll be safe.

We can only hope. Shiruvya replied.

Shuichi just nodded mentally, as much as he didn't like to accept it, deep down he knew she was right.

It wasn't her intention to be pessimistic, she was just being in fact realistic; no matter how hard they may try, they weren't invincible, and they were conscious of that, they could just protect their loved ones that much.

Shuuichi didn't say a single thing, he just observed the engaged teenagers as they remained unmoving, silent; even if their lips weren't moving the young boy seemed to be able to 'sense' they had no need for words, another kind of communication ran between them, one that went much deeper than that of spoken words.

OoO

About ten minutes later the three finally returned to the house. There Shiori immediately ran to the three and hugged them, even the confused Shuuichi, her eyes were red and puffy, and tear marks could still be seen in her cheeks.

"Oh, it's so good to see you're back." Shiori told them with relief. "You were gone for so long Katsuya and I feared…"

She didn't even dare finish the sentence.

"Don't worry mom, we're fine." Shuichi said hugging his mother and handing her a tissue. "Shuuichi just got lost, right?"

Shuuichi was about to say something else when he noticed the significant look the other boy directed to him, he understood perfectly well what it meant: 'There's no need for them to know about what truly happened, no need to worry them. Anyway, it's over now, the only thing that matters is that you're here, that we're all here.'

"Yes." Shuuichi finally nodded. "I just got lost."

"Well, good thing Shuichi and Shiruvya went looking for you." Katsuya said. "Now that you're back I would like us to finish a conversation…"

"I'm deeply sorry." Shuuichi interrupted his father as he did a deep bow. "Shiori-san, I'm really sorry for any worry I may have caused you, it was never my intention. I think I was just a bit insecure, not of your relationship, or of your love for one another, but of myself; I feared I wouldn't be able to handle such change like my father having a wife."

"Oh Shuuichi, no matter if I get married to Shiori, or anyone else, you'll always be my son." Katsuya assured him.

"I know." Shuuichi said. "I think I always knew but was too blind to see it. Thankfully I had two very wise and patient people that showed me the truth."

Shiruvya and Shuichi seemed surprised, knowing the boy was referring to them.

Shiori and Katsuya were truly happy for the change in the boy.

"I hope you will still want to marry my father, Mrs. Shiori." Shuuichi said respectfully. "And want me for a son, I know I'm not perfect…scratch that, I know I'm far from being perfect, but I would love to have you as my mother."

"Oh Shuuichi, of course I want to marry your father, and I'll be very happy and honored to be your mother." Shiori assured him.

And to everyone's surprise Shuuichi threw himself into Shiori's arms and hugged her tightly. Shiori, though, smiled and embraced the boy back.

"And as much as I'll like to be your mother, I hope you'll one day see Shuichi and Shiruvya as part of the family too." Shiori told him.

"I already do." Shuuichi said with a smile, he turned to the nearby teens. "Shuichi-aniki and Shiruvya-anehue."

Shuichi and Shiruvya could just smile at the boy.

He truly is one sweet boy, isn't he? Shiruvya mentally asked to Shuichi.

That he is. Her mate nodded. And he already considers us as his older siblings.

Older siblings, that sure is a great responsibility. Shiruvya said matter-of-factly. We must always be a good example for him.

We'll manage. Shuichi assured him.

I know. And you know, hearing him say that brought someone else to my memory the one we both used to consider a great friend, a brother a long time ago…

She didn't need to finish that sentence, neither did he; both knew perfectly well who she was talking about: Kuronue.

OoO

The days passed, until it was already a month since Shiruvya's entrance to Meiou High; and yet both she and Shuichi still acted as if they barely knew each other. Shiruvya was almost at the point of breakdown already, and not only her but Shuichi too, even when he didn't show it as much as she did. And it was that by being mated, their youkai sides were crying out their need to be together as much time as possible when they couldn't do that, and that pained them deep down in their souls.

The day came when the results came out of those who had gotten the best grades in the most recent exams. And to everyone's surprise Minamino Shuichi wasn't the only name in the first place this time, tied with him was the name of: Teien Shiruvya.

Shiruvya smiled to herself at seeing the paper with their names, it seemed that all her time of studying had finally paid off.

'Now this is a very good excuse to have a peaceful chat with Shuichi.' Shiruvya thought to herself.

And so she walked to the classroom where she knew her beloved was reading a book. She could hear and feel two girls talking to him, apparently they wanted to be some time in his company, but he sent them off without being rude.

"Oh, but did you notice? Minamino wasn't the only one with the first place this time." One of the girls commented as they were leaving.

"That's right, that new girl, Teien, got the same grades he did." The second girl nodded.

"They're both so intelligent." The first replied. "Don't you think they may do a good couple?"

"Don't know." Her friend replied. "You know how Minamino is, he doesn't seem to be interested in any girl at all, and Teien has her own fan-club, practically every boy in this school wants to go out with her."

"You're right, it is almost impossible." The other finally admitted.

'The key-word being 'almost'.' Hotaru thought to herself as she left her hiding place behind some lockers, as the girls passed by and entered the classroom.

Shiruvya entered, closed the door behind her and went to sit in his lap.

"Hello Shiruvya." Shuichi greeted her as he left his book aside.

"Hello koi." Shiruvya replied with a chaste kiss. "How are you doing?"

"I was fine, but now with you here I think my day is getting definitely better." Shuichi said with a small grin.

"Yes." She nodded. "Each day is harder to be apart from you, having a great part of my body and soul wanting nothing but to be as close to you as possible."

"And yet you stood out there for a couple of minutes and hadn't entered."

"Oh that, I was listening to a very interesting conversation." And she proceeded to tell him everything that had been said. "If they just knew." She finished.

"Yes, if they just knew…"

OoO

It was around six o'clock when some students were trying to convince Shuichi of becoming the leader of their Biology Club.

Shiruvya entered by the back door carrying some books she had to give to the members of that club (as she helped in the library, for extra credits); she was about to say something when an unexpected voice interrupted.

"Kurama!"

That voice was… Shuichi began.

Kuwabara. Shiruvya finished for him.

"Excuse me…" Shiruvya murmured, discretely pulling the boy away from the door.

And right a second later the door was kicked down, Kuwabara being the one responsible for it.

"Kurama!" Kuwabara called once more right as he entered. "Ah, here you are…" then he turned to Hotaru. "Oh and you…"

Shut up fool. Shiruvya scolded him in his mind. You shouldn't be calling us Kurama and Hotaru here; in this place we are ningens, he is Minamino, and I am Teien.

Right, sorry. Kuwabara excused himself. I forgot.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I must return to the library." Shiruvya said with a quick bow and turned to leave. I'll see you all outside. she added telepathically.

"Why did he call you Kurama?" one of the other boys asked.

"Oh, it is a nickname, nothing more than a nickname, right Kuwabara?" Shuichi asked.

"Yeah, that's right." Kuwabara nodded immediately.

"And what may be happening for you to barge into this classroom so violently?" Shuichi asked curiously.

"Oh, that's right. Here." Kuwabara handed him a piece of paper.

"This is bad." Shuichi said. "Come on, Lets go."

Shuichi guided them out of the school building and into an empty lot right behind it, there, Shiruvya was waiting for them.

"Took you long." She commented. "What's happening?"

Shuichi handed her the note and she read it aloud:

"Today at eleven sharp we'll be expecting you in the House of the Terror, you may bring whoever you want but Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama must be here too. If you don't fulfill these demands we won't be responsible for Urameshi Yuske's life." Shiruvya sighed.

"You see now, it is bad." Kuwabara told them seriously.

"What I see is that whoever is behind this isn't fully conscious of what he/she is doing." Shiruvya said seriously.

"What makes you say that?" Botan asked.

"They don't know everything they should have known before challenging anyone." Shiruvya answered simply.

"Didn't you notice?" Shuichi asked. "Even when it is true that they mention me, Kuwabara and even Hiei, they don't mention Hotaru there. So whoever planned this doesn't really know that much about us…"

"…Or isn't really expecting my presence in this place." Shiruvya finished. "Whatever the cause, it gives even more reason for me to be there."

"But first we must find Hiei." Kuwabara told them.

"I think I could do that." Shiruvya said simply.

OoO

It took them a while to find Hiei and even more to convince him of helping rescue Yuske, but finally they got to the House of the Terror. Right after they stepped inside the three youkais felt something strange was going on; and that made them remember the warning they had seen at the door, about a Forbidden Word they couldn't pronounce while being in that place.

"You felt it?" Hotaru asked.

Hiei just nodded.

"It felt as if we had just entered another dimension." Kurama added.

"We aren't alone." Hotaru informed them right then turning to a side.

"Welcome, to my playground." A voice received them.

"You bastard!" Kuwabara immediately began insulting their host. "What have you done to Urameshi?!"

"Oh, he's safe." Their 'host' assured them. "For the time being, at least. He's upstairs, with Kido. But to get to him you will first have to defeat me."

It was right then that two of the Tantei seemed to identify the man.

"Oh my…" Hotaru began.

"Stop Kuwabara." Kurama said seriously. "I know who he is."

"Really?" Kuwabara was quite surprised. "How?"

"His name is Kaitou Yuu." Kurama explained.

"He attends Meiou Academy, just like us." Hotaru explained.

"Teien." Kaitou seemed truly surprised. "I wasn't expecting you here. I didn't even imagine you knew these people. I wonder if you know what they truly are…"

"That's none of your business Kaitou." Hotaru interjected. "Why don't you explain what you pretend and we can get this over with?"

"Well Minamino." Kaitou turned to the redhead. "I must say I was quite surprised when I knew what you were, a youkai, Kurama…"

Hotaru fidgeted uncomfortably, she had been sensing a growing threat toward them for the last weeks, but she didn't really believe this boy and whoever was with him could be that threat.

The things progressed, and soon enough Hiei, Kuwabara and Botan had fallen prey to Kaitou's powers, their souls severed from their bodies.

"This is bad…" Hotaru murmured biting her lower lip.

Think you could help them? Kurama asked her.

I'm not sure. Hotaru replied sincerely. I could try, but there's the possibility that the rules of this room will be able to stop me somehow.

Then the only way to get out is to outsmart him. Kurama deduced.

I think there is no other way.

Fine, I'll take care. You just stay there and be careful of any sound that may leave your lips.

You have something planned?

Maybe.

Alright, I trust you.

"What are you doing?" Kaitou asked. "The game isn't over yet, and I have yet to discover what it is Teien has that links her to the rest of you."

"Wouldn't you love to find out?" Hotaru asked with a playful smirk. "Tell you what, if you manage to outsmart Kurama here, I'll tell you some things about myself I'm sure you'll find quite interesting."

Kurama proposed a change in the game, every character in the Japanese alphabet would be forbidden one by one until they ran out of letters to use. If by then Kurama hadn't been able to defeat Kaitou, then he would win.

Hotaru meanwhile remained aside, taking advantage of the fact to have the attention off of her and began acting subtly.

Forty minutes passed relatively fast for those three who still had their soul in them. No words were spoken. Kurama had disappeared, Kaitou was looking for him through the jungle the kitsune had created; and hidden as well in between all the plants Hotaru was working with her fingers at a fast rate, concentrated in something.

Suddenly Kurama emerged from the lamp in the ceiling, making Kaitou almost cry out in surprise, but in the last moment he took a hold of himself and instead took a couple of steps backwards, but right then and to his surprise he noticed all the threads around him, slightly above and behind him.

'What?' Kaitou barely stopped himself of saying it aloud this time, he was about to move away from the threads but something stopped him.

I wouldn't do that if I were you. Hotaru told him, stepping from a side. It would be worse for you.

She's right, you know? Kurama dropped to the floor right then.

'How can they be talking?' Kaitou wondered to himself. 'My powers should be taking their souls away.'

Your powers won't work now, because we aren't even opening our mouths, as you can see. Hotaru said as a matter of fact.

And to Kaitou's surprise he could see it was true.

So you're a psychic too? Kaitou asked. You have some kind of telepathy?

No, not really; after all, I don't need to establish a territory. Hotaru replied.

Then… Kaitou began moving, but Kurama's hand stopped him. What?

We told you, don't move. Kurama insisted to him.

Why not? Kaitou asked.

Because… Hotaru moved her fingers and the threads fell completely around Kaitou. If you touch those threads they'll stick to you, if you try to break them they'll fall tighter around you. With the first three you'll have problems to move, by the time you touch the sixth you'll be completely surrounded, by the ninth you'll find out that not even the air will reach you, and if you try and break a tenth…

She left the rest of the sentence hanging…

But you still won't be able to free your friends' souls until you have defeated me. Kaitou insisted to her.

That's not exactly true. Hotaru told him.

Kaitou watched as she left the threads around him and went to the table where the souls laid, there she took them in her hands carefully, walked to where the bodies of her friends stood and then concentrated; the souls floated from her hands and slowly into the bodies of its respective owner, giving them back their lives.

What?! Kaitou was in shock.

I suppose you have earned the explanations, I do know Kurama and the rest, in fact I've known Kurama for almost as long as I've lived. she said with a little laugh. I am a youkai, with dominium over insects and anything related to them, and at the same time a miko; they call me Hotaru.

Hotaru… Kaitou repeated surprised. We were told about a woman with that name that had attended the Tournament with Urameshi and the rest, but I would have never expected you to be that woman.

Well, then sorry to disappoint you. she replied sarcastically. Oh, and thank you for this. she showed him the key he, until not long ago, had in his pocket.

Right then Hiei, Botan and Kuwabara finished recovering the mobility of their bodies.

Kaitou had finally gotten so distracted while trying to free himself from the threads that his territory disappeared, giving the others the opportunity of free speech.

OoO

"Hotaru, I have a doubt." Kurama commented as they went through the second door.

"What is it?" she asked.

"As far as I know you can only manipulate ten threads at the same time." Kurama explained. "If you had already used one to retrieve the key Kaitou had, then why did you threatened him of what would happen if he touched a tenth thread."

"It was just an empty threat." Hotaru admitted. "But the fear of what may happen will make him take some time before he tries anything. To be true, as soon as he touches the ninth thread they will all fall, but he doesn't know that."

Kurama couldn't help but laugh at her antics.

Finally they had to wake up Yanagisawa, who led them to the entrance of his own territory, in it each of them would have to take a different staircase to try and reach the second floor: Kurama took the yellow one, Botan the pink one, Hiei the blue, Kurama went by the green and Hotaru the purple.

The minutes passed and not long afterwards they all emerged through different doors and into the main room in the second floor. There Yuske was being held back through his shadow by another young man, apparently a psychic, called Kido.

"Don't get too close to him, his power is in his shadow." Hotaru warned the rest.

"Very clever." Kido admitted. "Who might you be? We weren't expecting any girls."

"Maybe not, but according to what Kaitou told us you do know who I am." Hotaru replied. "After all, you should know if you got the information about the Ankoku Buujutsukai from a credible source."

"You're Hotaru." Kido sounded as surprised as Kaitou had been.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Though your friend in the other hall used to know me as Teien Shiruvya until recently."

Their conversation was interrupted when someone reminded the rest they still had to find a way to free Yuske. And so Kido explained them they hadn't yet passed Yanagisawa's test, one of them was an impostor.

This got everyone unprepared, and even after making several deductions and some very lame questions from Yuske there was still no way for them to know which was the impostor.

Can you feel it Hotaru? Kurama ask.

I have a very good idea. Hotaru replied. But I don't think that's the purpose of this 'game'. Whoever set it wants to prove something, I think Yuske is the one who needs to come up with an answer, not us.

Yeah, I had thought as much. Kurama nodded. I suppose you share my opinion in who's behind all of this.

Yes, and I don't think we're wrong. Hotaru said. I can't really think in anyone else who would think of doing something like this.

Their private conversation was abruptly finished when suddenly Yuske punched Kuwabara directly, sending him against a nearby desk, though a second later he wasn't Kuwabara anymore, but Yanagisawa.

"How could you know he was the impostor?" Kido asked, genuinely surprised.

"Well, it wasn't that hard." Yuske said. "I just thought for a moment, Hiei and Kurama are both too powerful and smart to fall in such a trap; Hotaru is just as powerful, and even if she weren't, Kurama would never let any harm come to her mate; if you had chosen Botan, being her the weakest of all of us I would have gone back and kicked you all the way to America for doing such a stupid thing; so the only one who remained was Kuwabara,"

Hotaru, Kurama and Hiei had to admit his thoughts had a logic…sort of.

Right then Kido said he was going to show them who was responsible for everything, and out came…Genkai.

It wasn't that much of a surprise for Hotaru and Kurama, who had already been expecting her; Hiei didn't seem to care much really; and Yuske had a fit.

Then, when Genkai began talking about something that was going on that involved the powers of those three Hotaru suggested that they first went to free Kaitou, and that they did.

"Genkai-sensei, forgive my question but, why didn't you mention Hotaru would be here too?" Kido asked. "Kaitou may have been a bit better prepared if we had known about her."

"I will admit I wasn't expecting her here." Genkai admitted, she turned to the woman in question. "I had thought you would return to the Reikai as soon as the Tournament finished, never thought you would be here in Ningenkai."

"You should know Genkai-sensei that no youkai can leave their mate behind, it's something unbearable for both the male and female involved." Kurama said seriously.

"Yes I know, I just didn't know for sure that you two were mates." Genkai replied.

"Mates?" Kido asked. "What does that mean?"

"It means that under youkai law we are married." Hotaru explained.

"Married?" Kaitou was in shock. "Then why do you act in school as if you didn't even know each other?"

"Well, it's funny." Hotaru replied honestly with a grin.

Genkai just shook her head with a sigh. She was about to say something when suddenly Hotaru's sharp intake of breath caught her attention.

"What's happening girl?" Genkai asked.

"I feel it." Hotaru explained. "I don't know why I hadn't felt it until now, but I feel it now."

"What?" Kurama asked. "What's happening?"

Hotaru just turned to Genkai, trying to get an answer from the old woman.

"How can such a thing be happening?" Hotaru asked nervously. "And how come I hadn't noticed until now?"

"Maybe your metamorphosis took more energy off you than you had imagined, and you didn't recover your full level until now." Genkai suggested. "And about how it is happening, I'm afraid that's a mystery to myself; in fact that's exactly the mystery we must solve."

"What are you talking about?" Yuske asked.

"What are you feeling koi?" Kurama inquired.

"A growing tunnel that will connect Makai and Ningenkai." Hotaru answered seriously.

"What?!" The rest were in shock.

OoO

In the deepest darkness of a series of caves a tall man with mint-green hair remained in the lotus position, floating in mid-air, concentrated in something others couldn't completely comprehend, only one thing was clear in what he was doing: it would bring the ningen race chaos and pain.

Not far from him a dark haired man seemed to be training, practicing a battle with an imaginary enemy.

And right then a girl arrived, she seemed to be around five or six years old, with shoulder-length straight light hair and eyes, wearing a green short dress and white shorts underneath; she made it to reach the dark haired man, but another one stopped her, this one with dark hair too, wearing a red jacket.

"Let me go Kana." She told him with an unusual seriousness that didn't fit her age. "I'm here to talk to him."

"You must not interrupt him when he's in his training." The young man replied. "And I've told you a thousand times I'm Shooter."

She seemed a bit offended by the young man's words but hid it well as she ignored him and turned to where the other man still trained.

"I told you: no." Shooter stopped her.

"He has never had any problems with me talking to him at any time I want." She replied stubbornly. "He has always received me."

"I don't think it would hurt for you to wait just a little bit my lady." A newcomer said, he had blonde hair and sea-blue eyes.

"Fine, I'll wait." She smiled a bit to the second boy. "Thank you Kiyoshi."

The blue-eyed just nodded and departed.

She finally went to side of that cave, sitting on the ground and laying against one of the walls, and once she was apart from any observant she let her façade down, her shields cracking, her shoulders down, and even without tears the sadness could be easily seen in her clouded eyes; she was really a terrible image for someone who was right in the middle of childhood though, somehow the looks in her eyes seemed to be saying she wasn't really what she appeared to be, not really.

'When did all this begin?' she wondered to herself in a sad tone as she played absent-mindedly with a crystal hourglass in her hands. 'When did this stupid plan of vengeance become more important than family? Will I be able to find a way of stopping this madness before it's too late?' she sighed. 'Oh, I hope so…'

And someplace else, not too far away, a female figure woke up abruptly, having dreamt the most terrible events: the total annihilation of the ningen race under the claws of the most terrible and savage youkais in all Makai; creatures so awful that just their mere sight left half the warriors frozen in their spots, so evil that they enjoyed killing every living creature, even those of their own kin, so powerful that there was probably no other being stronger than them; there was no way of stopping them.

And in the middle of the night she cried. She cried for the awful things she had dreamed, for the fact that she knew that those scenes hadn't been any nightmare but things that would come to pass soon unless she and her friends did something about it; they were in for a mission to save all Ningenkai and maybe even Reikai, a mission that, perhaps, this time would really claim their lives.

And so we begin with another saga, Sensui's saga...I love this part of YYH you know (though I still like the Dark Tournament even more...). Now, things are about to get more complicated with each chapter. For those of you who have gotten used to me following the chapters as they come in the series, sorry to disapoint you, but I won't be doing that anymore for two reasons: first, it's too tyring to have to write down all the dialogues and then insert Hotaru, and any other new character in between, second, it would make this part of the fic all too long and I'll still have to deal with the Makaian saga, so I would rather get on with things faster. Also, as you can see, another new character has appeared, you'll learn more of her as the chapters pass by, I hope you'll like her.

Now, for those of you who believe Kurama's family should know the truth about him and Hotaru...I'm still trying to work that out, they won't know sooner than the Makaian saga, maybe even later than that, if you have any suggestions I'll be very glad to listen to (or read) them.

One more thing, this fic has been having far less attention than I would have hoped, or liked; in fact I originally had planned a whole series of fanfics following this two new characters, and some more I had planned to insert in the sequels. But I'm seriously reconsidering. I need to know, honestly, how many people are reading this, and how many would be interested of continuing reading it in the future, because if there aren't many people interested I should better make a small extra saga in this fic and use it to wrap up everything without the need for the sequels. I really need to know what you people have to say on this matter. Also, if one offers to write the sequels in my place, I have the idea of what I want, but I haven't written anything yet, I hope to begin doing either the planned sequel or the extra saga by the time I finish uploading the chapters of the Sensui saga. I'll be waiting to know what you people think.

P.S. Don't forget to review!