Hello everyone, I know some of you may be surprised with a new chapter already but this is really to tie things over until we get to the serious parts. If not for a certain special event this would have happened way later but the chapter needed to be done and since it revolved around my birth why not, this makes it the second birthday to be aired (props to BloodxForxMyxRose for being the first birthday celebrated by us)! So everyone enjoy this one while I get to working on other projects, don't worry once we get back up you're all in for a wild ride so stay tuned.

Quick side note, if anyone knows how to make a tv tropes page it would be awesome if we had one for our story right, if not then I guess that responsibility will go to me. Just a small thought to be added, well before I get into a rant…ON WITH THE SHOW!

(Announcements and Reviews not up for the sake of beginning the story)

*Beta'd by our Favorite Neko: Ravena Felidae*

Ch. 21: Night Rain

Things had gotten quiet after meeting Illu's family and other guild Aetherion. When the guild left it gave Kurotsubasa the time they needed to begin preparations of their own. With the Guild Wars still on the horizon most activity had been done all around the areas of the game; Kurotsubasa still kept its doors open accepting the usual odd jobs and dealing with local problems though today the guild was closed as they were busy planning for a special event.

Inside the two-story café, Ravena watched as Bella was still hanging a banner from the ceiling. "Nya, we don't have much time Hy-Nya, when will you and your boys be done?" The Nekomata asked after watching the Hyna Squad's slow progress.

"Hey I can only go so fast Kitty, besides me and my men got everything covered!" Bella said as she, Yammy (Bleach) and Franky (One Piece) were still trying to hang the large banner perfectly. With the lights, Upgrade (Ben10) was working with the electronics and Naruto (Naruto) with Upchuck (Ben10) were busy cleaning the base and taking care of the other chores.

"We can only do so much, why don't you lend a tail and help us out with your magic?" The toon girl asked.

"You know I have to make sure everything's going smoothly, I have to make sure we even have enough time to do all of this!" Ravena explained and made a clipboard appear so that she could check some things off. "So far so good, I'm surprised we even have this much time nya."

"Are you even sure he'll show, you know Shads isn't exactly the most predictable kind of guy." Bella said as she and the others finished the banner.

"Oh I know, I messaged him on the chat asking when he'll be on and he said later in the day. He should be here around the time the Weather Shift happens…Banner, check nya!" Ravena crossed off the clipboard. "So far so good."

"Speaking of good, what are you and Punnya hiding upstairs anyway?" Bella asked the catgirl.

"You'll find out later, why were you trying to sneak into my room anyway Bella?" Ravena asked the toon girl.

"Because I was curious, you both came in such a blur yesterday that I didn't even get a good look but I know it was big." Bella recalled. "Come on; just tell me what it is you know I can keep a secret."

"Not offense but since everything you know gets transferred to all your men and some of them aren't really the most trustworthy, you're just gonna have to live the suspense" Ravena said. "And like I said you'll find out later, for now just know that it's a…present." She said to keep as much information as she could away from the devious toon user.

'Good thing Punnya has the room rigged with booby traps that are Bella-proof nya.' Ravena thought to herself as she went to the next order of business. "How's your visuals looking Ani-Key, any sign of him?"

"No he hasn't logged in yet. Are you sure having this surprise is a good idea Ravena?" The Beta asked taking his eyes off the hologram screen; Key had been giving the job of alerting the others when Shadow had arrived though he still had some doubts in the catgirl's plan.

"Trust me Ani-Key, Shads is a big softy, he won't be able to resist once he learns of all the work we all put into this. Besides as his friends it's our right to do this." Ravena smiled. "So keep an eye on that screen and holler if you see him nya!"

The Beta sighed. "Whatever you say Rave…hopefully he won't be too worked up today." Key muttered the last part to himself as he went back to his assigned post. 'Best to just sit back and watch the events play out.'

Ravena then looked back to her clipboard. "Ok DB-Chan is still out collecting all of the other things that we need; all we're missing right now is…" The Nekomata's eyes then shifted to the kitchen door, Ravena walked up to the door and knocked on it softly. "How's everything going Illu-tan?"

"Everything's going fine, most of the things I bought on the way here to save time but I still need to get the most important thing!' Ravena heard Illu speak from behind the door. The catgirl nodded and opened the door to see the many cookies, cupcakes and other sweets litter the cooking table, she was just in time to see Illu finish closing the oven and smirked when Illu's eyes met hers.

"Wow that's pretty adventurous of you Illu-tan, you could just buy it at any of the stores you were at but instead decided to make it yourself." Ravena's smile grew a bit more seeing Illu's blush increase.

Illu began poking her fingers together. "It's just, I-I wanted it to be a l-little more special so I decided to make it…I have the spare time since I bought everything else and…" Mukurowl and Nyoka then came to the stuttering girl's rescue by escorting the smiling catgirl out of the kitchen.

"We don't need Illu-sama blushing like that when we need her to focus; now don't you have some other things to manage?" Nyoka increased her size to help usher the smirking girl out of the kitchen, Mukurowl was there to make sure Nyoka didn't do anything to harmful to Illu's friends.

"Wow you really are a prude snake aren't you nya, fine, Illu-tan are you sure you'll have it ready?" Ravena asked wanting to double check before she was forced out of the room entirely.

Illu nodded. "All I need is to wait for it to finish baking and then decorate it and it should be done, the rest of the sweets would have been set up if I wasn't afraid of Bella-chan getting into the sweets before the events start." The hybrid girl explained as she pointed to the tiny barrier she had set up around the food. "I should be finished soon, how is everyone else doing?"

"Ani-Key is still keeping watch, Hy-Nya and her men are just about done with the decorations and DB-chan is still somewhere trying to get the rest of the things we need," Ravena informed her friend. "At the rate this goes we just need to have the gifts set up and we'll be good to go."

Illu smiled and agreed before a thought came to her mind. "Hey Ravena-chan, what are you giving Shadow-kun? Is it that thing you have hidden behind your door so that Bella-chan can't get to it?"

"Maybe nya, you'll find out as soon as he gets here though I am wondering what you got the Boss man Illu-tan?" Ravena asked in curiosity.

That question caused the shy girl's face to light up red. "I-it's a surprise like y-yours is; everyone will know once S-Shadow-kun finds out." Illu stuttered as she tried to hide her blushing face under her scarf. By that time Nyoka had tossed Ravena out of the kitchen saying things like her Mistress must continue her work before she gets frozen in Hinata-mode. Ravena brushed off the imaginary dust off her clothes.

"That snake really is bossy, hopefully Illu-tan can rein her in soon I'm already tired of how blunt she could be nya." Ravena then called on her clipboard again and checked a few things off. "Ok since DB-chan is still gone there is just one more thing to check on."

The Nekomata's wings grew to help her fly past the working members of the Hyna Squad, Ravena made it to her door and was about to knock on it when she suddenly stopped and pulled something out of her hair. "Trying to sneak a ride nya?" She asked the small alien in her hand.

"Uh…take me to your leader?" Grey Matter (Ben10) asked innocently.

"Nope, now take a flight and tell General Flat-Top to stay out of my room nya!" she said throwing the alien up before she used her shadow magic to form a bat and knocked the small alien into the distance. Ravena checked one more time for any more Hyna Squad members and once the coast was clear she gave a secret knock on the door. The door then unlocked and allowed the catgirl to slip inside and lock it again.

The Nekomata let out a breath of relief, "Yeesh, You would think Bella would have given up by now but she's persistent nya; good thing I Bella-proofed my room." After talking to herself she then walked over to her bed where her favorite manju was waiting. "Hey Punnya, how's guard duty coming along?"

"Punnya" The manju meowed as her body and tails were curled around a small item. The item was egg shaped and it was predominantly black with a dark blue layer over it with silver flecks sparkling across the surface. To a stranger it would seem like Punnya was wrapped around a piece of the night sky.

"Yeah I know it's boring but you still have fun keeping Hy-Nya out right?" Ravena asked as she petted Punnya. The pink ball of fur mewled against her hand snuggling up to her fellow neko; Ravena had fun playing with Punnya but stopped when her hand met the item. Her hand traced up its warm, smooth surface and stopped at a silver crescent moon image on the item.

"Hey Punnya you remember how we found this right?" Ravena asked her pet.

"Punnya nya" The Neko Manju mewled positively; both nekos remember how they came across the small but special item.

(Flashback)

Cheshire's Path, the series of underground tunnels that run under Tokyo City and some areas further out of the small city. While the Dungeon Area has its own share of traps and monsters it does have good amount of chests and items if one knew where to look or knew where they were going. While you have your generic items, Cheshire's Path likes to surprise travelers with interesting rare items from time to time, something that only a person who knew the huge labyrinth in and out could take advantage of.

However; there was one person who could navigate the Dungeon's twists and turns with ease…in fact she was the one who gave the area its name.

"Ah Cheshire's Path, where a Kitty can do all of her shopping for free!" Ravena smiled as she was carrying a bag over her shoulder that was halfway full with an assortment of munny, treasure, and items. "What do you say Punnya, one more raid and then we'll call it quits?" Ravena asked.

"Pun!" Punnya agreed as she flew alongside her friend/owner. Something then caught the Neko Manju's eyes and she flew up a bit ahead of Ravena in order to get a closer look. Ravena looked on in confusion seeing Punnya fly on ahead of her.

"Punnya, did you see something?" Ravena asked and then gained speed to keep up with Punnya and try to find out what could have caught the Manju's attention. The two Nekos then saw monsters, a pack of dirty brown rats with garbage littering their fur, sniffing around and scavenging through a chest.

"Ugh, Sewer Rats, I really hate these things; but they're a good sign if you're looking for treasure but that's only if you can get to the chest before them nya." Ravena whispered as to not draw attention to the two. Punnya silently meowed to her owner and pointed with her tail to an item that the rats have yet to touch.

"Punnya, nya nya, Punnya Punnya!" The Neko explained while using her tail to silently direct Ravena's eyes to the item.

"What, what do you mean an egg?" Ravena followed the Neko Manju's tail and saw the item that Punnya was pointing to. "Yeah I see it so…wait you're right, that's not just any egg." Ravena then saw how close the Sewer Rats were getting to it and hissed softly. "I'm going to let them go anywhere near it nya."

"Punnya" Punnya agreed already having an idea what Ravena's plan was.

One of the Sewer Rats noticed the peculiar egg and opened its jaws to take a bite only for it to be blasted away by a bright pink blast of energy. This alerted the other rats but were then grabbed by claws of dark energy and where thrown across the ground right next to their singed friend.

"Beat it or get Beaten!" Ravena snarled with the Punnya Cannon already aimed at them. The rats quickly ran away sensing the Killer Intent the girl was pouring out. Once they were gone Ravena sighed and allowed Punnya to change back to her original shape. "It's a good thing we were here."

"Punnya?" Punnya asked as she observed the egg more closely.

"I don't know why something like that would be here, it should be in a place where a herd would live not a dark and eerie Dungeon nya…wait what's this?" Ravena pulled out a cloth and began to clean the egg off and eyed the symbol she discovered. "That reminds me of Shadow-kyun's emblem nya."

"Punnya" Punnya handed it to Ravena using her tail so that they could take the egg out of the Dungeon. The catgirl held the egg close and carefully inspected it for any damage but found that it was safe and intact. "I was could give this to Terri to help find a home for it but I know exactly who this little one should go to." Ravena said.

"Punnya?" Punnya tilted her whole body in confusion.

"Don't worry you'll find out Punnya, now we just have to get this back to the base without the others finding out about it…" Ravena then stopped to think of a plan.

(Flashback end)

It took a lot of planning on her part but she was able to sneak the egg past the rest of Kurotsubasa and into her room where she and Punnya worked to keep it warm and cared for. While the others were curious, Bella especially, they soon gave up on asking and just left the Nekos to their own devices (plus Ravena had traps set up so that a certain cartoon couldn't sneak into her room). The reason for the catgirl's interest in the egg is what because she knew all about this particular type of egg: a Beast-Manju egg.

The Beast-Manjus are the mascots for FFW and creatures that could be found all around the game world if one took a moment to look, though they are known to shy away from players. Ravena knew everything there is to know about the special creatures, not just because Punnya was one, but for other reasons as well. One thing that the catgirl knew was that when Manju breed they leave behind eggs, just like the one Punnya was curled around.

"I still find it hard to believe that something like this was just lying in Cheshire's Path. Unless there are a new species of manju around, which I really doubt, something happened to have it stuck down there." Ravena took a moment to think.

"Punnya!" The Neko Manju snapped the girl out of her thoughts reminding her why she came into her bedroom.

"Right thanks Punnya, just wanted to check back on the egg before I go back to work. Keep that thing warm and safe; trust me it'll be time soon." Ravena smiled and then left her room leaving Punnya to resume guard duty. Locking the door behind her she then walked back downstairs to see that DB had arrived and had set some cups, plates, and drinks on a table in the café. "You're back nya!"

"Yep, sorry it took too long but some of the stores were way crowded so I have to leave and then go to other stores." DB said as he sat down. "Then I had to double check to make sure I had everything on the list, though I don't know why you didn't write it down I still brought the strong stuff." The vampire said referring to some of the bottles on the table.

"I didn't put alcohol on the list because I don't think Shadow-kyun would want to get drunk…. or anyone else for that matter." Ravena sweat-dropped at the vampire's comment.

"Please, this will help build your tolerance level and besides the feeling barely even transfers through the visors and he really needs to loosen up." DB replied as he filled his own cup with one of his favorite drinks. "How far is the plan coming?" DB asked before taking a drink.

Ravena sighed but pulled out her clipboard again and checked another thing off. "Well now that you're back we are almost done, just need to organize everything, have Illu finish with the cake, and stack gifts before…"

"You might want to speed that up Rave because Shads just logged in." Key said after receiving a message. "One of my friends at the Reception Center just told me that Shadow's online." The Beta pulled up his virtual screen and showed her the video of Shadow arriving in the building and heading for the exit.

"Snap, we're no where near done! We have to stall him somehow!" Ravena flailed her arms about in worry.

"How? We still have to prepare the things here…" Key then looked to Bella. "Hey Bell, how much power does your Omnitrix still have?"

"After all the things I'm doing today not much, I can't even use the other functions and as soon as my men go back I time out." Bella said knowing how low on energy she was since she was working her Omnitrix hard lately. "Got another plan Kitty?"

"No…Wait!" Ravena then opened up her friends list and pulled out a card from the list. "I think I know the perfect person to stall Shadow-kyun for a while nya!" The catgirl said confidently holding the card as if it were godsend.

"Who are you going to have help out, I know Shadow will take it easy because it's raining but what are you planning Rave?" Key asked her.

"Just phoning in a favor nya" The catgirl smiled but then registered something the Beta said. "What do you mean by raining?"

"There's a Weather Shift happening soon and it's going to be a storm" Key informed her. "When it starts raining Shadow just likes to walk and take his time, for why I don't know." Key said.

"Nya, well hopefully I can still call in that favor" Ravena then contacted her friend now aware of the soft patter of rain that her sensitive ears picked up.

(Scene Change)

"It's raining here too, perfect" Shadow sighed seeing the downpour happening, soaking the entire town in rain. The leader of Kurotsubasa pulled his hood over his head and walked out of the Reception Center after receiving the usual greetings from the receptionists. He soon entered the area now feeling the weight of the rain.

"Might as well take my time, we're not doing much anyway to my knowledge" Shadow thought out loud as he began his slow walk to the base taking in the sight of the rain. 'Rain…it always brings back memories.'

"Why is it that every time it rains you're always walking around with that depressing aura?"

Shadow turned to the side and saw that now he wasn't alone walking the almost empty streets. "Oh, hey Rose what business do you have? I thought you were still away taking on another bounty hunting job." He asked his former student.

"I just got back, I needed to turn in the guy to the collection office and I just got my bounty back. I could sense you a mile away with that depressed mood of yours…" Rose explained holding an umbrella to shield her and Mazareth from the rain. "If you had your scythe out I would think you were death itself."

"I'm not interested in that, too much work…"Shadow said to her joke. "Besides I'm not depressed, I'm just nostalgic there is a difference" Shadow gave her his excuse.

"At least you got out of the habit of wearing your hood all the time except when it was raining, that really got on my nerves when we were traveling together." The redhead said with irritation evident in her tone. Mazareth was silent though staying as close to Rose as possible so that he would barely get wet.

Shadow then smirked, "If I remember correctly, the reason you got mad with me wearing my hood all the time was because you got tired of 'not seeing sensei's cute face' whenever you pleased." His smirk upgraded to a grin seeing Rose's face now matched her hair.

"W-what, what are you talking about?" Rose said in embarrassment.

"You like to talk in your sleep, sorry if you're only learning this now" Shadow then proceeded to walk ahead leaving a stunned Rose. The Bounty Huntress then steadied herself and ran to catch back up with him with Mazareth at her side.

"That's not funny, what other things have you heard?!" Rose asked (define: ordered) him to tell her.

"I think I should keep that to myself, who knows when I could use some good blackmail but not much…at least not as much as I think you grew out of." Shadow said to her, keeping as vague as possible.

Rose was about to argue with him but sighed knowing that was about as much as she was going to get from the secretive boy. "Fine, keep your stupid blackmail see if I care! I got plenty to use against you!" The girl fired back.

"Somehow I doubt that…now why did you really come over to talk? You know I'm heading to the base and that's almost your least favorite place to be." Shadow stopped to have a conversation with the girl, he knew something was up but decided to let it slide this time.

The slightly pink faced girl decided to clear her throat and calm herself down. "Like you seriously don't know why I wanted to talk with you! You know what day this is!" The girl then pulled something out of her inventory and a wrapped box appeared in her hand.

"Didn't we celebrate your birthday already?" Shadow asked causing the girl to nearly face-fault except Mazareth caught her so that she wouldn't end up wet.

"No you idiot, don't act stupid, this is for your birthday!" Rose yelled after righting herself. The red-haired Bounty Hunter then threw the box angrily at Shadow only to see the boy slow the item down using gravity. He then had the box land softly in his hand. "Only you could be this dense!"

"There's being dense and there's playing dense; I was just playing dense Rose" Shadow said as he inspected the box slightly before placing it into his inventory. "Anyway, thanks for the gift I appreciate it." He then began to walk back on his path.

'He was playing, then does that mean all those other times he was just messing with me?!' The girl thought angrily but steeled her thoughts and tried not to let any more frustration show. Rose then noticed that Shadow did not open his gift. "What gives, why didn't you open it?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise, besides you didn't open the gift I gave you automatically did you?" Shadow asked curiously.

"No I didn't" Rose sighed knowing what the boy was saying. "Well just know that finding it wasn't simple; it cost me a lot of munny and I expect to have a favor in return." The Bloody Rose said adamantly.

"Really a favor, no equal value or payment?" Shadow asked.

"You're right, it should be five favors because of what I went through to get it, I'll call them in when I want to." Rose then received a messaged and a tickmark appeared on her head when she read it. "Of all the…"

"Who's it from, some Bounty Hunter friend you know?"

"No, all of them are easier to kill…I got to go take care of something then log out. See you later sometime." Rose then walked off.

Shadow saw Mazareth was staring at him and he petted the tiger's head softly. "I know; I don't get her deal either but keeps taking care of her ok."

Getting a modest croon from the tiger Mazareth then took off to join Rose under the umbrella. Shadow continued on his way not seeing that all Rose did was walk into an alley so that she could finish her conversation. "Yeah I got you enough time; he's heading there right now though." Rose said.

"That's great Rosie; I knew I could count on you!"

"What have I told you about calling me that?!"

"It's either Rosie or Maid Fetish nya!"

"…" At that Rose ended the conversation and had to take slow calm breaths to avoid exploding in anger. "Urgh, sometimes that Boobcat just irritates me!" As Rose ranted, Mazareth just kept silent letting her get her frustrations out as they continued onward to their home and out of the rain.

(Kurotsubasa Base)

"Are you sure that that was safe Bella-chan?" Illu asked seeing the now finished cake. To help speed up the cake's baking time Bella used a few of her men (lead by Clockwork (Ben10)) to manipulate time around the confection. The rest of the chores were finished with Naruto's shadow clones and electronics fully fixed by MCP. Illu was now looking at the finished cake, which was a two-layer cake with dark blue and black frosting.

"I'm sure, though now I need to wait before doing anything crazy for a while" Bella held up her wrist to show the red light now displayed on the Omnitrix where the neon green light once was. The Hyna Squad leader had used up most of her powers helping to finish preparations. "Still we got done and with plenty of time to spare."

"I don't know how you did it Rave, but it worked." Key congratulated her.

"I can't take all the credit nya, still now that we got everything we need all we really have to do is…" The catgirl was then cut off by the toongirl.

"Hide everyone!"

Before a word could be said Bella grabbed them all and took them into different hiding places. They couldn't protest because they knew not much could stop Bella once she got excited; Ravena and Illu both used a bit of magic and illusion to keep them and everything else hidden at least from Shadow's Byakugan. All of Kurotsubasa was silent as they heard the door open and heard Shadow walk inside and took off his wet jacket.

"Of all the times to have a Weather Shift; hopefully the others haven't…"

"Surprise!"

Just as he was about to make it to the stairs a bright light came on and Shadow found himself covered in confetti. He stared blankly at the rest of Kurotsubasa as he took the streamers and confetti off of him. "Seriously guys, is this what you've been doing all day?" He asked.

"Why not? It's not every day we get to celebrate your birthday Shads especially with how you act about it." Bella said placing a party hat on the teen's head.

"That's because I don't want people to make such a big deal about it" Shadow tried to take the hat off, only to find out that Bella had added something extra to it to have it stay firmly to his head. He tried to take it off by forced only for the hat to begin stretching. "What the hell Bella?!"

"Come on, stop being all cold for once it's a party cheer up!" Bella said wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

Shadow's response to that was grabbing Bella by the face and slamming her into the floor. Dark energy began to cover the hat and evaporated it separating him from the toongirl's party trick. As Bella pulled herself up Illu decided to try and calm the situation.

"Bella-chan you don't need to be so direct; and Shadow-kun we all worked hard to have this all planned for you." Illu tried to explain.

"Yeah so drink up and stop acting so down." DB said placing a cup in the teen's hand and filling it with one of the bottles on the table.

Shadow checked his drink to make sure it's not alcoholic and was surprised to find out it wasn't so he took a sip. "Fine, you guys obviously planned this whole thing out and it must have taken you all day…I guess just this once I can just chill and enjoy it." He sighed.

"See I knew you were a big softy!" Ravena hugged the scythe wielder causing him to blush because of her assets pressing against him.

"Rave I told you not to do that!"

"Do what?" she asked cluelessly.

Before anything could escalate Key separated the two and moved the party to one of the tables. Deciding to just accept their efforts Kurotsubasa decided to enjoy the snacks and sweets that were laid out for all of them to enjoy. Shadow took a piece of cake and tried it and enjoyed how it tasted. "I can tell that almost all of these are store bought except for this cake, who made it?" Shadow asked curiously.

"U-um I made it, though I got Bella-chan to help me out in the end so that I would have enough time to finish." Illu said with a blush.

"It's good, and to think I was the only one in the guild with any kind of cooking skills." Shadow said while eating another piece of cake.

"Hey I can cook too!" Bella objected loudly.

"Said the girl who was actually able to burn water."

"It's hard to cook as Heatblast!"

Shadow just shook his head and turned back to Illu. "Well this is a delicious cake Illu, thanks." He thanked the shy girl who was now softly blushing; after an hour of treats and talking they decided it was time to give out gifts.

"All right first is mine, I'm sure you'll enjoy this one Shads!" Bella said as she gave the boy a large gift. Shadow looked at the box confusedly before looking at Bella.

"This isn't another gag gift is it…or another project you have that's going to explode right?" Shadow asked as he was a bit nervous of the gift; the toongirl's heart is always in the right place but sometimes her gifts were sometimes more harmful than useful.

"Come on just open it, I guarantee you'll love it!" Bella continued to smile waiting for Shadow to open her gift.

Shadow then shrugged and decided to worry about any damages he may get later He opened the gift and was surprised to see it was skill book with a few other attachments to it, with all of them being from a familiar series. "You got me a Move tutor, what for you only gave me one move for it."

"Well the move I gave you works well with what you have and it will be a great fix up incase Owlgirl and Kitty aren't there to heal you." Bella explained. "You've played Pokémon right?"

"Of course I have, still thanks for worry about my safety since you decided to give me a healing move. Thanks Bell" Shadow said putting the Move Tutor away in his dimensional zipper to use later. A ticket was then placed in Shadow's hand and he saw it was DB that gave him the ticket. "This isn't for what I think it's for is it?"

"It is, I was able to call in a few favors and was able to get that ticket for you. This will help as soon as we get the van fixed up, maybe replace it with a car or use it for yourself; I saw you eyeing some off the cars when we pass by the store." DB smirked.

"Sure, thanks DB" The two knocked their cups against the other. Soon it was Key's turn; he then brought out a small wrapped packet from out of his coat. Shadow took the packet and unwrapped to discover that it was a map. "A map Key, I already have a good bunch of the…hold on is this…?"

"Yep, you probably haven't had much time to be treasure hunting because of recent things so I did you a favor and mapped out some Dungeon sights that no one has beaten yet and possibly new Dungeon locations." Key said with a smirk. "You wouldn't want to get rusty now would you?"

Shadow smiled and shook Key's hand, "Thanks, Key I'll be sure to put this to good use." Shadow tucked the map away in a safe place so that he could use it for later.

After the Beta retook his seat it was now Illu's turn who had a modest sized wrapped present in her arms. The shy girl gave it to Shadow trying hard to keep eye contact, "I know I made the cake but that wasn't really my gift, that's for you Shadow-kun, I hope you like it." Illu said.

Shadow nodded and unwrapped the box to opened the box and saw what the hybrid girl had given it. He pulled out a long black scarf that was soft to the touch. While he thought it was a normal scarf he could already feel something different about the cloth. "Wow a scarf, did you make this too Illu?"

Illu shook her head, "No but I knew a friend that helps make my replacement scarves; while I had it dyed it's made out of Fire Rat's fur just like my scarf making it more durable. From what my friend said she also added something else that was special but I don't know what that is yet."

"You don't?" Shadow asked but knew that he loved her present, he already had part of it loosely wrapped around his neck and while it didn't cover his face it was mostly to feel how comfortable it felt. 'I can see how Illu-chan could get used to this, the scarf is comfortable.'

"No, but each scarf is said to be different for each user so who knows what it could be. Mine was designed to not be affected by acid or corrosive attacks though I still wear different scarfs every once and awhile." Illu explained. "You just need to push your energy into your scarf and you should find out what it can do."

"First a good cake and an awesome gift, you're going to be a lucky man's wife someday Illu" As he said that he didn't notice the large blush that suddenly appeared on the girl's face. Shadow however did notice that there was a face missing from the party. "Hey where is Punnya,? Usually when there are a lot of dumplings she's down here bouncing for them."

"I fed Punnya some of the sweets already but I had her playing guard for your present." Before Shadow could ask what she meant the catgirl used her eyes to discreetly point to Bella and the scythe user understood what she meant. Ravena flew upstairs to grab her gifts leaving the curious minds of Kurotsubasa to ask questions.

"So what do you think she got you Shads?" DB asked.

"Don't know, maybe some magic spells or something like that she has been helping me out with magic for a few days." Shadow gave his guess at the gift. As they discuss the gifts Shadow then felt a familiar weight land on his head. The boy then took Punnya off his head. "There you are Punnya, I was sure you didn't want to miss the best part."

"Punnya!" Punnya meowed in agreement while purring audibly.

"Yeah she was going to eat us out of all the sweets but anyway; here you go Shadow-kyun!" Ravena presented Shadow with the Manju egg that she had been keeping secret for days. While Shadow was confused he accepted the girl's gift anyway. "I just gave you the best present you could ever get, a Beast Manju egg nya" The catgirl smiled.

"Beast Manju? You mean like what Punnya is?" Shadow asked.

"Punnya!" Punnya heard her name be called as she was already indulging herself with some of the sweets on the table along with Mukurowl and Nyoka.

"Not exactly Shads, I think it's better if I told you this first," Ravena then cleared her throat so that she could speak more clearly. "Beast-Manju are kind of like wrapped up birthday presents. They come in many forms and colors but you can never really be sure what you are really gonna get. But once you do, it's the most special thing you can have." The catgirl said with many emotions running through her voice.

"That's beautiful Rave but I think your present's been cracked" Shadow said drawing attention to the small crack on the egg's surface.

"Nya?! What do you mean; there was no crack when Punnya and I took care of it." Ravena said.

*Crack*

That sound got all of Kurotsubasa's attention as the crack began to widen. A few more cracks appeared and soon the top of the egg crumbled away. The whole egg then shined with a white light filling the room, the light was so bright that all the members had to cover their eyes as to not be blinded though they could still hear the sounds of the eggs hatching. Once the light faded Shadow opened his eyes and heard the first sounds of the newborn Manju on his lap.

"U-Pyon~!"

Shadow and most of Kurotsubasa looked confused, and while Ravena and Punnya were less confused though it was mostly from seeing the newborn hatchling. It was a Manju like Punnya but very different. This Manju was way smaller and younger, with black fur and a crescent shape mark on its forehead. A pair of long soft ears that were way bigger than it's body flopped from the top of its head. It then slowly opened its eyes to reveal them to be a bright blue as it looked up at Shadow for the first time, imprinting on him.

"U-Pyon!" The Manju squeaked again as it cuddled up against Shadow.

"Aw~" The girls of Kurotsubasa said seeing the small creatures reaction to Shadow.

"Well what do you know! You got yourself an Usa-Manju. Isn't she the cutest thing?" Ravena said.

"Ok, first-off, Usa-what? Secondly, she? And lastly, I think the problem is that she is too cute…at least for me." Shadow said while taking the young Manju off of him.

"Well my young naïve Shadow-kyun" She patted the boy's head getting an irritated groan. "Beast-Manju refers to the name of the type of animal she and Punnya are but not their species; Punnya's a Neko Manju and you can tell because she has cat features nya. That little ball of preciousness in your arms is an Usa-Manju; Black Holland Lop if I'm not mistaken." Ravena said in lecture mode. "I'm sure you know Usa means rabbit and you can tell why."

"But how can you tell it's a she?" Shadow asked again while noticing the baby Manju was gone. Feeling a small weight on his head he then saw the baby had taken Punnya's usual spot nesting on his head. Due to her small body and coloring she blended in with Shadow's hair while her ears stuck out giving Shadow the illusion of a Bunny-Boy. "Well, that's just great."

"How can you not? She's adorable and playful although I've never seen a newborn get this close with humans before nya," Ravena said while the others were stifling their giggles and snickers from Shadow's new look.

"Maybe it was because when…she, hatched she saw Shadow first. Kind of like a Togepi effect." Key suggested after finally composing himself.

"So Shads has a new pet and it also thinks he's her father" Bella smiled and then got in close to look at the baby Manju. "Hey there little one, I'm your Obyran Bella" The toongirl smiled.

The manju however squeaked loudly and took off in a blur, hiding in Shadow's jacket. Shadow felt around and found the baby Manju now hiding in his hood. "I suppose that's a normal reaction, right Rave?"

"Yep though why is she still acting so close with you but Bella scared her off?" Ravena tried to think for a bit, wondering why the manju was acting that way.

"Whatever, Ravena since you know so much about Beast Manju you must know a good place where they will take care of her…" Shadow said.

"You mean like a Daycare nya?" Ravena asked.

Shadow sighed, "No Ravena…you know I can't keep her."

"Nyani, why?" Ravena asked feeling hurt.

"Well she's too cute, like I said before."

"Just because she's cute doesn't mean you have to give her up; besides you can still be yourself and still have her around. It's good of you to show you don't need to have big dragons or deadly wolves to be a cool hero." Ravena smiled. "Besides think of how many will join your fan club now."

"Join my what?" Shadow then ignored that part and focused on the Manju who he was able to free from his clothes only for her to now snuggle on his shoulder, still shy of the others but still wanting to be close to him. "Anyway why can't I have her put up for adoption?"

"Because I think she's imprinted on you already Shads." It was DB who answered the question. "You know how animals imprint in nature, well maybe that baby imprinted on you from birth so I don't think you can get rid of her; she'll just keep coming back."

"And just wait until you two bond, trust me it's the best thing in the world." Ravena smiled.

"Yeah sure…" Shadow then took the baby off his shoulder and placed her on the table; this had the others wondering what their guild leader was doing though a few noticed the look he had on his face but couldn't guess the emotions he was feeling. "I need to be alone for a while, thanks for the party and everything." Using Shadow Step the scythe wielder vanished leaving the guild behind.

"What the heck was that?" Bella asked.

"Do you think maybe the Usa brought some bad memories for Shadow-kun, he had a sort of look in his eyes." Illu said.

"He usually gets that look when it's raining…uh guys Shads isn't the only one that went AWOL. Where's the newborn?" Key asked seeing the space where the Manju sat was now empty.

"Oh no, she's gone!" Bella said.

"Chill Bells, I think I know where they both are or at least a way to find them," Ravena then took Punnya away from her sweets. "Punnya, you think you can help us find Shadow-kyun and the Usa-Manju?"

"Punnya!" Punnya nodded and began to sense around. The Manju then took off and went towards the stairs with the rest of Kurotsubasa following after her.

(Scene Change)

On the roof of the Guild building, Shadow was lying in a spot on the roof with a makeshift canopy over a wall so that he wouldn't get wet. He could see that the party had lasted awhile because it was so late he could see hints of the moon behind the storm clouds…ironically a crescent.

Shadow sighed. "It's really been that long…with the Guild Wars coming up there is a chance that we have to face them and that's the last thing I want to think about. Besides with a new member and a baby at that isn't what we need if we want to survive." He then looked at his wrist where the Wings of Creation rested; the scythe wielder was about to say something but something beat him to it.

"U-Pyon!"

Shadow turned and saw on the roof with him was the Usa-Manju who bounced up to him. "So you followed me huh…that's right you don't have a name yet." Shadow then picked the Manju up and placed her on his lap. "So I'm guessing you heard all that I said huh?"

"U-Pyon…." The Manju said with hints of teary eyes.

"Don't look at me like that…. Look you really are cute and all and I never really cared what others think of me walking around with a cute bunny like you" He petted her head and rubbed her ears getting a positive reaction which caused him to smile and then sigh. "The point is; I'm not really the safest guy to be around."

"U-Pyon?" The Manju tilted her head; Shadow somehow understood that she was asking why and showed her the treasure on his wrist. The baby Manju stared at it with her eyes and sort off began to feel it with her ears.

"See this, well there are a lot bad guys out there that are after me to take it away; not to mention there are some out there who could care less about it and want to just fight me or kill me." Shadow tried to explain. "After the last guys we fought I realized I needed to get stronger or the people around me are going to get hurt, and even as my friends get stronger I feel like I'm not." He kept his eyes on the baby Manju and took her silence as a cause to continue. "Like I said, any other time I would more than happy to welcome you but I can't really do what I have to if I have to raise a baby Manju as well."

"U-Pyon, Pyon Pyon U-Pyon!" squeaked The Manju bounced a bit.

Shadow chuckled a bit. "That's right you are about a good five minutes old; you may have your own tricks and Ravena can probably help me raise you and show me all the benefits of having a pet Manju like Punnya but I'm not sure if I can go through all that and do my own training." He then got a bit to the Manju's eye level. "Unless you have something to speed those up."

When he petted her again it seemed to cause a reaction as her bright blue eyes glowed a bit. Shadow noticed that before he noticed something else…the rain drops closest to the two had stopped and seemed to be floating in midair.

"Is this a power that Manju have, time stop?" He then looked around and saw time was moving and regular time. "If not then…" He touched a frozen raindrop to find that it was only hovering. Shadow, in surprise, felt himself be lift up a bit and saw that the small manju was floating as well revealing she was the cause.

"Ok so you aren't just a pretty face." Shadow used gravity to float under his own power and got them both back on to the ground. "Guess you are interesting aren't you?" Shadow smiled. Soon he saw that the girl's left eye had faded a bit to a silvery white and her crescent was more pronounced. "Did you just change, what happened to your eye?"

"U-Pyon~!" The unnamed Manju opened her mouth wide and a small ball of light flew out. The little orb then split into two and dissipated revealing a pair of items.

Shadow saw that they were earrings, more specifically earcuffs, that were silver and gold and also had a crescent shaped blue stone with silver marks that Shadow knew instantly were Lapis Lazuli.

"So I have to wear jewelry now?" Shadow joked. The baby Manju however bounced forward and knocked one of earcuffs over to him with her large ear. Seeing no harm Shadow stared at the gift given to him. "Everyone's giving me presents, even people I don't know" He looked down at the baby. "You want me to put this on don't you?"

"U-Pyon~" The baby nodded, beginning to understand each other. She had already placed the other earcuff on one of her long ears.

Shadow decided to do so and placed it on his left ear and soon felt a power flow through him. 'What is this feeling, it's like I can finally relax…usually I can only feel this way when I'm asleep.' Shadow turned to the manju seeing it's smiling face.

"You knew I was troubled so you came after me huh?"

"U-Pyon!" The Manju then cuddled up to him again wrapping her ears around his neck though this time he didn't object or try to take her off.

The birthday boy sighed but then smiled as he petted the manju. "Well if you are going to stay with me you're going to need a name aren't you?" Shadow said and then looked out to see the rain has decreased in power, becoming a simple shower. Shadow could see part of the sky and some of the stars reminding him more of the manju in his arms. The teen then placed the baby Manju on his head but before he gave her a name they were interrupted.

"Punnya!" Punnya said flying out the door with the rest of Kurotsubasa following after her.

"Now Shads I know what you're thinking but…" Ravena tried to say when she noticed and recognized the new piece of jewelry on Shad's earlobe.

"I doubt you know what I'm thinking, probably not since you're all scaring Amaya over here." Shadow said.

"Amaya?" Illu asked.

Shadow then pointed to the baby bunny who was now shaking in his hood. He took the girl out and petted her fur to calm her down. "Yeah Amaya, that's what I decided to call her."

"Amaya? Illu do you know what that means?" DB asked the Japanese native.

"Amaya, it's Japanese, it means night rain." Illu informed him.

"Night rain huh, couldn't think of anything better?" Key smirked.

"Well it was either that or Upyon." Shadow said. "How do you like Amaya?"

"U-Pyon~" The now named Amaya cuddled against his cheek, as if it was her way of saying yes.

"Cool name Shads, though hopefully she'll warm up to us." Bella said.

"One step at a time Bella…"

"See I know you would love her; it's like you two were meant to meet each other! It's Hitsuzen nya!" Ravena cheered.

"I don't know about all of that Rave, but I can say thanks for the awesome present." Shadow said standing up with Amaya now on his shoulder. "Let's get out of this rain, we still have a party to finish after all."

"That's right, everyone back inside I still haven't busted out any party games!" Bella led the group as they all went back inside. The two manju owners walked right by each other with Punnya flying by Ravena and Amaya on Shadow's shoulder.

"I'll be sure to teach you everything I know Shadow-kyun, you are now in charge of a new innocent life. You are now responsible for her nya." Ravena said to lecture him.

"And that's why I almost didn't want to take her…but it's not like I'm not used to being responsible for something, only now it's someone." Shadow petted Amaya again.

"U-Pyon~" Amaya said in happiness.

Ravena noticed the matching ear-cuff and Amaya's new white-eye in surprise. 'I just can't believe it….It usually takes months or years but Amaya's already bonded with Shads within minutes of her birth…' she thought as she watched Amaya snuggle even closely to her new 'Master'.

Ravena smiled knowingly as they joined the others back inside to finish the party. "Then again…Hitsuzen really does work in mysterious ways…."

TBC…

Well we now have another member of the Kurotsubasa family, with Amaya now canon to the story we'll see how the Guild Wars play out. Also for the ones I talked with about the comic idea, we can always do a fan comic/parody using chibi characters will save time and have a good amount of fun with it. Until next time everyone!

-Shadowlight0982 out.