Author's Note: Look how soon I got this done! I was on a roll for a while... It was really easy! And, because I'm both sick and lazy, I'm not going to write how Rika managed to convince the boys she should have her room back… I might re-do this chapter if I get any ideas, but for now, this is how it is. All you need to know is that she is back in her room.

Written

Not a secret after this chapter! XD

Rika's conversational thoughts

Chapter 14

"Monster Revealed"

I pick up my phone, pausing my ipod. "Need something?" I ask, settling myself back against the headboard of my bead… it's nice to be back in my room!

Kiyoshi laughs. "Only a little destruction in Makai."

I smile. "Of course; sounds like fun. Anyone in particular?"

"Just a dog demon out there causing some trouble for me. He's been out there poking around for a while, and he's getting to close to things he shouldn't know. I'll set you up with a portal nearby. Feel free to kill anyone you want to, though."

I nod. "Will do."

A portal opens beside me, and I step toward it. I pause, grab a piece of paper, and leave a note for the boys about where I am. If they don't like it, though shit 'cause I'm already gone.

I watch the village carefully. Whoever the demon is, he doesn't seem to be destructive. Life goes on as always, not a single difference in sight. I sigh, slinking through the shadows to the outskirts of the village. It won't take long. With any hope, the Reikai Tantei won't even notice that I've been gone.

I heighten my senses to detect the demon. I smile when I pinpoint his location, swiftly creeping over to him. I see, behind the curtains in the window of a shop, two silhouettes, arguing furiously. I watch for a moment with interest, then shrug. I don't really care what this demon's problems are, just that I'm supposed to kill him.

I motion to the visible fireplace within the shop. The flames shrink but lose no intensity. They continue to shrink under my command, pressure building up around them.

And then… the shop went boom.

I smirk, stepping back a few paces to avoid the debris. Curiosity gets the better of me and I venture forward to see who it is that I was sent to kill.

I gasp, running to the body's side and dropping to my knees. "No…" I whisper. Not him… oh, kami, not him. This particular dog demon is my best friend from when I was a child. We got separated a while back during a gang war. He promised he'd find me if we ever got separated. I guess… he did.

He is still alive, if just barely. He's burned intensely, along with deep cuts and broken bones. He opens his eyes. "Ri…" his voice is so soft, his eyes beginning to cloud. He smiles weakly. "Found you…" he taunts. "Sorry it took so long."

"Stop it," I order. "Don't talk… We'll get you to a healer, and—"

"No, I'm gone, Ri. Take care of yourself."

"No… Sayoran, no… Please," I beg. "Please, you can't leave me. Not now!" I begin to sob despite my training, my salty tears hitting his face. I shift, resting his head in my lap. "You can't give up after all you've worked for. You can't abandon me!"

Sayoran's blood stains my lap and my hands. I don't want him to die. He promised we'd always be friends. He cannot break his promise. I won't let him!

"I won't let you," I whisper, my hands running through his blood-matted hair. "I'm going to save you, no matter what it takes," I decide. "Even if it means using her. Even if it means the end of the world, you will live." I know he wouldn't want me to use her, but I can't think of any other way. "I need her power… and I need your help. Help me, Sayoran."

I tug at the blood-red bracelet around my wrist. She stirs sleepily within me, slowly becoming aware of what is happening. Tears obscure my vision as I relax my control over my body and soul. My ears disappear, replaced with black-tipped, white cat ears. The bracelet slides from my wrist, landing in a pool of the crimson liquid.

Kumiko, I call inwardly, time to come out and play…

The bodiless voice stirs. You're joking, right?

No. You want control or not?

Duh, you idiot.

Wait.

Of course… there's a catch, isn't there?

Hell yes. I need you to healSayoran first.

…Fine. But only because he was nice to me, too.

Her power surges through my body. I quiver in morbid anticipation; I can use this power. I force it through my hands and into Sayoran's body. The blood recedes into the wounds, his fatal injuries healing instantly.

I heal him… but at what cost?

"Rika," Sayoran mumbles, his dark brown eyes opening to see my tear-stained face.

"Not anymore," a low, harsh voice spits from my lips.

"You didn't," he breathes, sitting up straight.

I can only manage a nod. "She can smell it Sayoran…" I whisper in a forced voice, frightened. "The blood. She wants to kill. She wants to drink… Kumiko's too strong, I can't stop her."

He sits helplessly as I cry silently. Without warning, I throw my head back and let out a blood-chilling, echoing screech.

I cannot open my eyes, I cannot move, I cannot speak, I cannot smell, I cannot hear. And yet, I can see. My body moves, it laughs, it revels in the scent of fear, in the screams of the villagers as they flee before it.

And I know I have lost all control.

Kumiko, using my body, looks into Sayoran's wide eyes. I see my reflection in them; one eye gold and the other red, no whites at all, just an empty blackness… there's nothing I can do.

She snarls. I hear, now, not only screams, but the crying of small children.

Kumiko leaps for a nearby child. My scream goes unheard and unvoiced beyond the confines of my own mind. The child wails, frozen in place with fear. The child's mother races towards it, lashing out at Kumiko, trying to shove her away from the child.

Kumiko turns her attention to the woman. The fox demoness screams, fleeing to the forest. Kumiko licks her lips, ripping the child's stomach open with one razor sharp claw before chasing after the mother.

A male fox demon steps in her path, probably the female's mate. He swipes his claws across Kumiko's stomach. Kumiko growls. The male is dead in an instant.

Terrified villagers run, panicked by this sudden, erratic behaviour. Kumiko cackles joyously, knocking a few more to the blood drenched dirt. Then, she started after the female kitsune again.

Arms circle Kumiko's –my—waist, and I hear him calling out to me.

"Rika, fight it!" Sayoran shouts.

Kumiko laughs. "She promised me temporary freedom for healing you, Dog. She can't stop me."

"Then go! This isn't your world."

"No! I love killing! I want some more fun before I rest."

"You'll have to kill me first," he whispers.

Kumiko pauses, fighting an internal battle. I feel some control return to me. "I… can't," she mutters angrily. "Damn you to hell, Sayoran. If I kill you, Rika'll kill herself, and then I'll be dead too, and I really don't want that."

I regain complete control.

"Sayoran…" I fall back into the comfort of my best friend's arms. "Thank you…"

Everything goes black.

Voices fill my ears. I hear a door slamming in the background as a lone being walks towards me.

I open my eyes, which are once again a familiar crystal blue. Yusuke smiles at me. I suppose that I am back in Genkai's temple, for there is no room like this one in my house.

"We thought we'd lost you for a minute there," he informs me gently. Then he grins good naturedly. "Don't do it again."

I smile back and nod, only hoping I wouldn't have to do something like that again. Yusuke gets up and leaves.

Kuwabara enters in his place. "You've been out for about three days. Kurama's explained it to all your teachers and such so you should be fine when you go back to school."

"How'd I heal so quickly?" I ask, for the gash in my stomach that once went all the way through my body is now a mere cut, still in need of bandaging, but not nearly as bad or as painful as I remember it being.

Kuwabara grins proudly. "My sweet Yukina is a great healer," he explains. "She fixed you up as best as she could. You were pretty beat up, though, so she said you needed to rest and that we shouldn't visit long. Which reminds me, I think Kurama wants to talk to you." Kuwabara exits, leaving Kurama standing in the doorway.

Kurama sits on the edge of my bed.

"Kurama." Even now my voice is soft. I cannot, ever, speak to anyone besides Sayoran in any voice above a whisper.

Kurama looks both relieved and sad. "What happened to your hair?" he asks, not bothering to ask what I had done to get so injured as he was sure I wouldn't answer.

Puzzled, I weakly pull the ends of my hair into my line of vision. How interesting. Where glistening black once separated glimmering white strands, at least six inches of shining silver meet my eyes. A soft laugh escapes my lips.

"I guess I used a little too much power," I respond, forcing myself into a sitting position despite the excruciating pains that shoots through my aching body with even the slightest movement. "That happens sometimes. To me."

Kurama shakes his head sadly and opens his mouth to speak when a loud pounding diverts his attention. I wince in pain as the racket reaches my sensitive ears – still not back to my usual human ears. I receive a quick hug before Kurama closes the door behind himself, leaving in his place none other than Hiei Jaganshi.

Hiei stalks towards me, his emotionless visage unmoving. The only way I can tell he's angry is by the fire burning in his eyes. "How dare you scare us like that?" he seethes. "Leaving without a word, the note only telling us you'd be back soon, that you had an errand to run! And then, you come back carried in the arms of a battered looking dog demon who only tells us you need help and then collapses himself! What have you to say for yourself?"

I stare silently at the ground a few feet away, bracing myself for the explosion sure to come. Instead, I feel strong, well-worn fingers pulling my face up roughly to look Hiei in the eyes.

"You say you're a tiger demoness," he growls. "Yet, you can't even control that thing inside you; you're nothing but a weak little kitten!"

I close my eyes to avoid his unnerving stare – and to quell the dizziness I am beginning to feel.

Strong, muscular arms wrap around my bandaged waist. I tense with the sudden, not to mention unexpected contact.

I turn my head slightly to see Hiei behind me on the bed, holding me tightly. A little too tightly, for the pain rushes in waves from my stomach.

"Hiei-" I manage to gasp through the pain.

Hiei must have heard said pain, because his grip relaxes, though it does not end.

Not that I'm complaining or anything.

I stay silent; his embrace is comforting, if not a little strange. I can feel his warm breath against the skin of my neck. His head rests on my shoulder, his eyes closed as if to sleep.

Yeah right.

With a small smile slipping across my face, I lean back against him, and fall into a deep sleep of my own.

In the morning, I wake to find that Hiei has gone. I shrug and then wince as my shoulder begins to throb. Maybe I was just dreaming.

As I cross over to the door, I notice a note on the desk. I read it curiously.

Rika—

Last night was nothing. It's best if we both forget about it.

It's not signed. It doesn't have to be, I guess. There's no other person it could be. But, damn, Hiei's acting strange all of a sudden.

I follow my nose to the kitchen where I find Kurama sipping some coffee and munching on toast while he reads the paper. Maybe he knows what's going on.

"Hey, Kurama." I sit next to him at the table.

He glances up at me. "Nice to see you up and about, Rika."

"Thanks… Hey, is there something wrong with—" I break off as the subject of my question walks in. I duck my head to avoid eye contact.

Hiei pulls a sandwich from the fridge and turns to leave. He catches sight of me, pauses, then growls. I stare intently at the table top, hoping hewill stop soon. He does, leaving out of another door thatdoesn't require him to walk by me.

I look up at Kurama. He's staring at me, coffee cup halfway to his mouth and totally forgotten. I blush.

"So I'm assuming you wanted to know what was wrong with Hiei, right?"

"Um… yeah."

"It's his mating season, nothing more."

"Oh…" That explains a lot.

"Just stay out of his way for a while. You should be fine."

I smile, relieved. "Thanks, Kurama. So… what's been happening around school?"

Kurama smiles. "Nothing of too great importance… Oh, all your teachers wish you well and hope you get better in time to enjoy homecoming."

"…Homecoming?"

"It's in a little over a week."

I stare at Kurama. "Great…" I rest my head on my arms exasperatedly.

"What? Most people are thrilled around this time."

"Need I remind you I'm not 'most people'? It's all a huge, messyevent that I don't care to take part in."

"Too bad." Kurama glances at me. "I was hoping we could go together… as friends. You'd be doing me a huge favor as it would get all those fan girls off my back about choosing one of them for my date."

I raise my head about an inch to study the fox before me. "Way to feed the rumors, Kurama."

"The rumors you don't care about?"

"Right. Fine, I'll save your sorry little ass."

"Thanks, Rika… I think."

"No problem." I trudge back upstairs to the room, wondering what I should do next.

There is a knock on my door. "Hey, Ri."

I jump, spinning around. I almost fall over in shock. "What did you do to him?" I cry softly, racing across the room to where Yusuke and Kuwabara have Sayoran handcuffed, his arms over their respective shoulders to support his weight because he was unable to do so himself. He still looks like he went through hell and back, even though I was healed. There's even a few bruises I know for a fact I didn't give him!

Yusuke shrugs. "He won't talk. But he demanded to see you before we sent him back, and we thought we'd humor him. Why?"

"You can't send him back!" I hiss. Sayoran smiles. "He's hurt because of me, and I won't have you shoving him back to Makai like that!"

"But he's just a demon!" argues Kuwabara haughtily.

I glare. "A demon that saved me. And, he's my best friend. He's been looking for me, and it almost got him killed—"

"By you," Sayoran interrupts, amused.

"Yes, by me, but that's not the point! He's staying here with me, got it?"

Yusuke shrugs, looking a little worried that I was getting so worked up. "Fine, whatever. Just don't overdo anything… you're not completely healed, remember?"

I smile. "Of course." The door shuts behind them, leaving me and Sayoran alone in the room.

"You really should rest," he says.

I hug him as tight as I can without reopening the wound. "I'm so sorry," I reply, my voice strong and at a normal level.

He laughs. "It's nothing. You and Kumiko healed most of it, so I'm fine. Just get some rest."

"Stay here with me?"

He raises an eyebrow.

I smile sheepishly. "I missed you… and if anything happens to alert Yukito or Kiyoshi to the fact that you're still alive, then we're both dead."

"True."

A/N: Had to re-edit this chapter... the site keeps taking out spaces between the words and it bugs the hell out of me.