Hi. I've been frequently pushed away from the computer recently, so typing's been hard to do. A pity, since I so love typing... Yeah. This chapter, I must admit, is more than a bit weird, but, who am I to judge for you? Go on, dear reader, and find out for yourself!

I stared at my ceiling, simply thinking. In all actuality, I was daydreaming, and my usually bright eyes were glazed over. That didn't really matter, though. I liked thinking. The focus of my thoughts was the legendary bandit, the famed Yoko Kurama. He was the topic of many a story, and was well known for his skill, cunning, and, supposedly, his ethereal beauty. Luxurious silver-white hair that was even longer than mine, intelligent golden eyes, smooth, pale skin, and perfect features…that, and his soft silver fox's ears and fox tail gave him a look not wholly of this world. Even among youkai, indeed, even among yôkos, he was an oddity. I had never met him, nor had I even seen a yôko, so I wouldn't know. After all, I had never left my town before now, and the famed yôko thief was far too good to come to our village. We didn't have the sort of riches that drew him and his equally infamous partner-in-crime, the bat demon Kuronue. It was rumored that even Yomi himself had been in their band of thieves.

I yawned, rolling over and snuggling deeper into the blankets. The warmth had seemed to seep into my very bones, and all I felt like doing was sleeping or anything that didn't require movement. True, it was horribly lazy of me, but I couldn't shake the feeling…not without getting out of bed, that is, and I didn't intend to do that anytime soon. I was especially susceptible to heat, and, as long as it wasn't too hot, just pleasantly warm, it had an almost tranquilizing effect on me. I yawned again.

The door silently opened, and Tariel padded in, footfalls noiseless. I started, surprised, and tried to make it look like I had been doing something. The fact that my long hair was tousled, I still had a blanket covering most of my body, and the yawn that again crept over my features gave me away, though. Tariel only smiled.

"Hey there, sleepy," he greeted.

I smiled sheepishly, pulling myself out of bed. The warmth beckoned for me, and it took a quick battle of will to keep myself from heading right back. I looked up at him with sleepy eyes, and cocked my head to the side.

A full-out grin spread over his face.

"Let me guess—the warmth?"

"Yeah," I replied. "It always makes me feel so drowsy."

"Me too," he laughed. "I suppose it's a setback for us ice demons. We're incredibly weak in the face of extreme heat, and warmth just lulls us almost to sleep! In that way, I envy fire demons. They can just turn up the heat in the face of the cold, while we can't manipulate our body temperature. Of course, just try seeing a fire demon swim. It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life. I don't think they can, no matter how hard they try. Amusing, isn't it?"

I nodded, although it didn't seem so humorous seeing as I myself couldn't swim. Then again, I was sure that I'd learn sometime. Tariel would teach me. That, and all those other ninja skills I'd need to learn.

I looked at him expectantly, as if he'd explain why he had come in. Was it for a wake-up call or what?
"We both agree that you need to learn how to control your aura," he started. I nodded. "Well, the best place to start would be with how to activate it, right? But the most practical place to start would be how to deactivate it. You're more at risk for icing over the whole place than you are for not being able to. I can protect you from whatever would hurt you. I can't always be there to stop one of those aura-fits. Okay?"

I mutely nodded, before realizing something.

"Wait, how could I practice turning off my aura if I can't turn it on to begin with?" I asked.

"Well, that technique we talked about earlier works. Unless, of course, it just doesn't feel right to you."

I swallowed. In truth, I didn't like the feel of other's energies one bit. Even that little patch Tariel had put in my aura bothered me. It ground on my mind, like having something indiscernible moving at the edges of my vision and being unable to turn my head. Too weird…

Still, I didn't want to disappoint him. I was here to learn ice powers, and a small bit of discomfort would not get in my way of doing so. I nodded.

"It's fine by me."

"Good. Now, first off, do you think you can figure out how to stop on your own?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"I've tried, but nothing seems to work."

He nodded.

"Well, that was to be expected. Ice mastery doesn't come instantaneously, after all. Plus, it takes a while to learn, even with help. Aura is a tricky thing. Okay, can you sense another's aura yet?"

I stared blankly, unaware that such a thing was even possible.

"I'll take that as a 'no'. Do you want to know what one can get simply by looking at another's aura?"

I nodded eagerly. Aura seemed so interesting to me, even if mine was kind of messed up.

"Well, as of right now, you're ashamed, happy, jealous, nervous, a tiny bit afraid, and slightly sad."

I was stunned. My aura told him all that? I opened and closed my mouth a few times, stunned. How? How?

"What?" I yelped.

"Colors. I can see these colors in your aura. Gold, dark green, dark gray, a bit of black, and tinted through and through with soft gray. And, of course, dark blue," he added. "Happiness, jealousy, nervousness, fearfulness, sorrow, and surprise, in that order. Color tells a lot about you, and I can pluck it from your aura with the same ease that you could pluck a sentence from a page."

I took a step back, frightened. He could literally read my every move and feeling without even trying? It was a daunting thought.

"Don't be too startled. It's a simple feeling. I can't read your mind or anything; all I can get is your emotions," he reassured. "After a bit, you can suppress your battle aura. I won't be able to sense you, and I have to 'see' your aura to understand your colors. Does that make sense?"

I nodded, a bit relieved. It was good to know that there was an easy defense against it. I'd be fine.

"So…about taming my aura. How?" I asked.

"Feel within yourself for a spark of energy. Find it."

I blinked in confusion but decided to try. After all, who was I to argue with someone like him?

I thought a bit. A spark of energy… I wondered what he meant. I wasn't feeling anything, other than increasingly stupid. Standing there, eyes shut, and not doing anything…I probably looked like a total idiot.

Suddenly realizing that Tariel could see that in my aura, I blushed a deep red, ashamed that I had let myself think that. No, he knew what he was doing. He could control ice, and this was how he did it. Therefore, if I wanted to do so as well, then this was how I would. Yes, that was it. But then, why wasn't anything working out? Where was this "spark" of energy? I couldn't feel it.

That painfully realistic dream from the night before came to mind. What if I couldn't find it because I wasn't a real ice manipulator? I was starting to get nervous, doubting myself. I couldn't go home a failure! No! But…if it was because I wasn't who I thought I was… I was panicking.

Tariel laid a hand on my shoulder.

"You can do it, Touya," he said.

I nodded slowly, still ill at ease.

"C-can we do this some other time?" I asked, nervously fidgeting.

He looked at me, and then shook his head.

"Don't let nerves get to you. Work through it."

He did nothing to dispel my tension. For some reason, it clicked in my mind that I wanted to get out of here right now. My eyes darted around fearfully, trying to find an easy way out. There was only the door and the window, though. Tariel was standing in front of the door, and something told me that he wouldn't want me to leave and would stop me if I tried. The window, although large enough to fit my body, was also unable to be opened and had thick glass in it. Trying to smash through there would be foolish and stupid. Still, I was restless. I didn't like this situation!

I did the only thing I could think of: stand there, nervous. I didn't like it, but there was no other option available, other than go hide under the bed. And I was claustrophobic too. With a mental shrug, I waited, hoping that Tariel would help me out here. Once again, I wished that Shishi was here. The half-bird demon, although he didn't always know the right thing to say, always knew a thing to say, and that was usually sufficient enough for me. He could always make me feel better.

I relaxed at the thought of Shishi, although at the same time I was terribly sad that he was gone. Instinctively, I grasped his fang in my hand, the smooth, hard object serving to further calm me down. Strangely enough, though, I could see him in my mind's eye, as if he was right there, so close I could touch. Of course, I wasn't for a second stupid enough to believe that that really was him, but the image was still rather sharp. In fact…it seemed a bit too clear. Even down to that bright, attentive look to his lavender eyes, even when he was sleepy or bored.

It was then that I noticed that something-in-the-corner-of-my-vision, itching, irritating feeling that accompanied Tariel's aura poking and prodding around in my ki. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was tampering with my thoughts using his energy. That would explain the unusually clear image of Shishi and the almost tranquilizing effect thoughts of him induced.

"Stop that," I ordered, tracing the fangs symbol in the air with my forefinger.

He blinked in confusion.

"Stop what?"

"Stop tampering with my mind!" I yelled. Earlier, I had been worried, but now I was flat-out mad. My thoughts were mine and mine alone, and he had no right to be messing around with them. I still clutched the vampire fang, although it was no longer for comfort. Rather, I gripped it with the determination that an elemental warrior gripped his rune, the special item that increased the power of aura attacks tenfold.

"I'm not," he calmly replied.

"I can feel it, so stop lying! I can feel this little tingling sensation gnawing at the corners of my mind. It's making my thoughts all weird! Do you think this is funny, hm? Do you think that toying with my mind is funny? Well, I want you to stop it!"

I was visibly affected now. My glacial blue eyes were narrowed almost to slits, my hands were clenched into fists, and I trembled slightly. Self-control was all that was keeping me from making the irrational decision of attacking him, and that was wearing far too thin!

"You're quite talented, Touya," he said, and I could feel his energy pull away. "To be able to sense a spell (1) such as that is amazing. In fact, you shouldn't even notice anything different."

"So, basically, you're using your aura to mess with my mind, and you did that with no intention of telling me?" I demanded.

"Pretty much," he agreed, not even denying it.

"Why?" I insisted.

"You were far too afraid. Your aura was a mess of dark gray and black and I could tell you needed to calm down. I thought you'd reject anything I said outright, so I tried working through your subconscious. The image of that blue-haired boy kept popping up wherever I looked, so he seemed to be a safe bet. I merely brought his image to your conscious level and made it clear enough for you to see. It worked, didn't it?" he explained.

"That still doesn't give you any reason to tamper with my mind," I repeated, although I had lost a good deal of pent-up anger.

He said nothing, merely shrugging.

"But how did you do that?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

"What do you mean?"

"You're an ice demon. I didn't know you could do something like that too."

"Ah. Well, there are certain things that almost any demon that has training with his or her aura can do. Basic spells, you know?" he said.

"How? What else? If I have my battle aura suppressed, can you still?"

"I feel for your aura and let out a tiny pulse of energy, barely detectable. Once I've infused your aura with the littlest bit of mine, I'm directly connected to your base feelings. That isn't enough, though. I have to know enough about you to call up something in particular. I picked the name 'Shishi', which I assumed belonged to that boy, and chose the fang you wear around your neck and the blue feather I found tied in the strings of the bag Cotalyn gave me as the foci for the spell. Once I had a connection, a vague memory and the mental image of personal items that I believed linked me to it, I could begin. It gave me a fuzzy image of what I was trying to call to mind. From there, I allowed you to perfect it on your own. All I did was call up the image. It is truly a basic technique and not a particularly practical one, either. As for aura suppression, if yours was then I couldn't make the original bond that is necessary," he clarified.

"As for others, there are more than I can even touch on. I know there's a book on them in your bookshelf."

I nodded. After his intriguing explanation, I was no longer angry. Now, I had a burning desire to learn more about all the things that I could do with my aura. That is, if I ever learned how to use it.

Tariel didn't even need to prompt me to get me to concentrate, to focus on finding that speck of energy. I thought in on myself, searching, searching. There was nothing. Nothing but the black emptiness of the backs of my eyelids and the faint red glow of where the light was bright enough to faintly glow through them. Bereft of my sight, I could focus better on my other senses. There were three rapid chirps in a row coming from outside the window, and I could hear the steady sound of my own breathing. I could smell that basil scent that hung around Tariel and, probably, me, as well as the scent of cold. Shishi and Tal had both looked at me like I was crazy when I had said that cold had its own scent, but it was there. Cold was a scent, to an ice youkai, at least, if it was strong enough. I was sure that heat was a scent to a fire youkai, too, but I couldn't smell that. It wasn't me, I guessed.

I blocked it out, trying to ignore it all. No rustling of leaves outside…no coppery tang of dried blood…no feeling of soft carpet under my feet… Nothing. There was nothing… I tried hard to feel it, to feel that aura-spark he spoke of, but there was still nothing. Nothing! Was that all that my efforts so far had amounted to?

I tried to stop thinking. Dropping all these self-doubts and daydreams and memories might just be what I needed to do. It was challenging. No thought at all…I couldn't help but think things such as I did it! No thought! and Come on… Then…

Flash! There was something there!

The second I thought that it disappeared, but I was sure that it had been there. I hadn't imagined it. Lime-green, glowing, and radiating a feeling of pure, absolute me, it was there.

I tried again, and again and again after that, until it finally came again into my mental vision. There…

I focused on it, trying to bring it into a clearer 'picture'. To my surprise, instead of vanishing upon thought-contact the image sharpened. It wasn't a spark, as Tariel had described it. No, to me, it seemed to be a glimmer of light, like a flickering ray of firelight reflecting off of a cat's eyes…or, as Shishi had once said, my own eyes at night. Transfixed, I reached out my mind and touched it.

There was a bright flash of white exploding in my mind, sending me reeling, and then a jolt swept through me, almost electric.

Then my eyes rolled back into my head and I passed out.

There was white all around me. Swirling, white mists. I assumed it was another dream, but the aching in my muscles told me otherwise.

"Where am I?" I asked aloud.

Wherever you want to be, an echoing voice replied. I couldn't hear it, though; it was all in my mind.

"Wherever I…want to be?"

You got it.

"Okay, then. I wish I was in my old house."

The mists dissipated, and I found myself standing in the middle of my room. It was perfect, down to the last detail. My vision was a tad bit fuzzy, but I assumed that was just an aftereffect of that weird light…

"What else can I do?" I asked.

To my surprise, Tal opened the door, stepping in.

"Touya? What are you doing up this late?" he wondered.

"Oh…just thinking. I had the most amazing dream, Tal! I can't wait to tell Shishi!"

The bat demon's body collapsed in upon itself, like a ball of putty, and rearranged itself to appear as Shishi's.

"Really? What do you have to tell me?" he asked.

I yelped in surprise.

"Okay, I'm definitely asleep. That doesn't happen in real life."

Actually, you're quite awake.

"Then what's going on?" I demanded, hoping that voice would answer.

"You're in your mind, Blue," Shishi said matter-of-factly. "I always did say you thought too much."

"How do you know this? What's going on?"

"I know this because I'm a memory, Blue. I'm a figment of your imagination. I'm not here. This room isn't here. Technically, the only thing that is here is your consciousness," he explained, casually leaning up against the wall.

I blinked.

"But… Then how did I get here?" I asked.

"You pushed your mind too far into your subconscious and, consequentially, managed to get yourself trapped here."

That was how I knew for sure that this was all in my mind. Shishi couldn't even read! He certainly didn't know words such as "consequentially" and "subconscious", and if he did he never used them in conversation.

"So…subconscious me, is it? What can I do here?"

To my horror, the 'Shishi' mutated into a mirror image of myself. Too creepy!
"Shishi! Shishi!" I yelled, watching it change back. I sighed with relief. My own thoughts dictated this. This was my mind…

I snapped awake suddenly, bolting upright. I was panting for breath, heart racing.

"Touya! I'm sorry I didn't warn you about that! Maybe it would be better to give you a break," Tariel conceded, hand on my shoulder. "I woke you up using aura."

"That was so weird… It was me, and Shishi, and everything I spoke or thought of… I…I want to go back sometime."

He started, before slowly nodding.

"I'm sure you would. Until we get somewhere like that, though, don't try and travel there. I can't stress that enough. You're in very real danger there, if you only think it. Okay? Don't try."

I nodded.

"Now, why don't you take the day off from aura? I think you learned enough as is."

I nodded again, and stepped over to my bookshelf. There was a book on aura techniques that I just had to read…

Yeah... Uh-huh, that was it. Thanks to ylib for the whole mental plane ideas. I had a sort of sketchy image, but nothing like the amazing way they described one in their story Blood and Water. If you like Mitarai, seriousness, and random humor, go check it out! Anywho, just tell me what you think. Reviews don't bite, after all.

(1) I usually don't do these things, but I think I have to elaborate. I don't mean a wizard-casting-fireball kind of spell, nor do I mean a whole Paladine-smite-my-foes sort of spell. I think that doing just about anything with the aura, despite being an innate ability, would be considered a 'spell', loosely speaking, of course. To them, it's no magic, but hey, it is to us. That's where our version of the word 'spell' and theirs differs. I'm sure most of you think of magic with it. Now, to the demons that have such a close thing, their aura, they don't see it as 'casting a spell' but rather as 'using an aura-spell' or such. Got it?