Author's Note:

A special note to all of the readers: Team Musakui needs original characters to fight against!

If you'd like to see your own OC in the story, whether it is based on yourself or someone you made up, please PM me their bio (appearance, personality, powers, etc) and what you'd like their fate to be! =P (in other words, I won't shame or kill your character unless you're okay with it!)

CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN TO THE CREATORS!

Enjoy, and check out YYHTheLostChapters on DeviantArt for new pictures of the characters!

Chapter 26: Team Musakui

"Here kitty kitty kitty . . ."

Stomp, stomp, stomp.

He was coming closer, his blue pantlegs looming over Flein like giants. His form was so gigantic that his face was barely visible from the shadows, but she didn't dare look up. She had to run as fast as she could to keep ahead of him, yet it still seemed like she was running in slow-motion.

"Here kitty kitty kitty . . ."

Stomp, stomp, stomp.

Flein tripped over air, landing hard on her chest. It was as if a heavy force pushed her down, and the same weight was holding her in place. Despite her best efforts, she unwillingly turned her head behind her to glimpse a large hand advancing down from the shadows, easily three times her size. After it appeared the face, its beady eyes squinting into mere slits, a disgusting smile spreading across hard features.

"Here kitty kitty kitty . . ." Kuwabara crooned, his gravelly voice sending vibrations through the small black space, which only seemed to be getting smaller. His immense hand reached lower, hovering just over her tail . .

Stomp, stomp, stomp.

Flein jolted awake, her green eyes snapping wide open. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and cold sweat was dripping down her neck, yet somehow her body had remained completely still despite the shock. It took her a few seconds to recognize her surroundings- lavender curtains draped over the window, a lamp with a red shade on top of a nightstand, a lump under the white sheets in the bed next to her. It was only until the lump stirred and loose strands of black hair fell out of the cocoon and onto the pillow did the memories come back to her.

Knock, knock, knock.

Now Flein sat up in bed, the feelings from her nightmare washing over her. It was the exact same noise from her dream- only now it was clear that it was actually knocking, not the stomping sound that her subconscious created.

She slid out of bed, her body still half-awake. Her oversized light green tank top that she wore in lieu of sleepwear had rolled up at some point during the night, and she smoothed it back down over her thighs. Taking a quick peek out of the window, she saw that the sun had only just risen over the horizon, an unearthly glow spread over the trees.

"Who on earth is knocking so early in the morning?!" Flein thought, rubbing her left eye with a balled-up fist. Behind her, Kirda shifted inside of her blanket cocoon, but did not wake. Rei was dead to the world, laying flat on her back, her toes aimed at the ceiling. Her messy bun had become almost completely undone.

Knock, knock, knock.

Sighing angrily, Flein left the bedroom, being careful to close the door quietly behind her, and headed toward the front door of their hotel room.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

"Don't do that!"

"What? No one's responding!"

"Maybe they're already gone . ."

Flein stopped in her tracks halfway across the sitting room as she heard hushed whispers behind the door. But she continued shortly after the initial shock wore off- she recognized these voices.

Joka's knuckles hit thin air as Flein opened the door, and he left his fist hanging there in shock for a few moments before lowering it. Flein could see Talik standing slightly obscured behind him, looking at her curiously. Anji just stared at her former teammate with her mouth slightly open, as if words weren't coming to her. She was wearing a baggy brown sweater that drooped just under her shoulders, which was more skin than Flein was used to seeing from the girl.

Luckily, Flein had no problem supplying words for the speechless wolf demons. "I'm guessing you're here for your bag?" She opened the door wider and gestured to the black bag laying on the couch, which had been neatly and lovingly organized by Kirda the night before. She had had no idea if Anji would be coming back for it or not- she definitely didn't expect them to come retrieve it at the crack of dawn.

"Oh! Um . . ." Anji managed to find her voice, but that didn't stop her from stumbling over her words. "Actually . . uh . . there's been . . um . . "

Joka looked at his fellow wolf demon with one eyebrow raised for a few awkward seconds before finally turning to Flein himself. "Look . ." He scratched the back of his head, and he seemed to be straining to make eye contact with her. "You still mad at me or anything?"

Now it was Flein's turn to be speechless. She was almost tempted to ask him to repeat himself, but her ears were keen- she knew what he said. But it didn't mean she understood the intent behind his random question.

"Oh, I see." she thought, blinking in realization. "He wants to apologize before they leave. I guess that's more than I was expecting but . ." Getting a stubborn apology from him now was almost too awkward to bear. She wondered if she could stop it now before he continued. She was satisfied with simply knowing that he wanted to, whether it was forced upon him by Anji or not.

"Mad?" Flein finally mumbled, her voice hoarse. Sleepiness still hung over her like a wet blanket, and she was reminded again that she wasn't used to getting up this early. "I . . don't think I was ever mad. Exasperated maybe, but . . I'm used to people misunderstanding me so . . it's fine." It was only until after she finished her tired sentence that she realized it would leave the wolf demons with unanswered questions, not to mention it might seem like she wanted to throw a pity party, with herself as the main star. She wished she didn't have to overanalyze her own sentences- or at least, exclude the ones she said at six in the morning.

"Really?! Are you sure?" asked Anji, her blue eyes bright. "You're not mad at me either?"

Flein blinked, subconsciously pulling her tank top a little lower over her thighs. Wearing such a short article of clothing was embarrassing in front of Joka and Talik, but Talik didn't seem interested and Joka seemed like he wanted to avoid looking at her entirely, so neither of them caused Flein to start running for her shorts yet. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't know" Anji mumbled. Flein had a feeling that the girl did know of a few reasons why the cat demon could be mad at her, but was abandoning them in fear that Flein would change her mind upon hearing them. Anji balled her hands into fists and held them close to her chest, as if gathering strength. "But if you're not mad at all . . I'd like to continue being a member of Team Musakui!" She paused, releasing a tense breath that looked like it had been stored inside of her for ages. She let her hands fall to her sides. " . . . that is, if you haven't found someone else."

Flein was awake now. "You're . . not going home?" she asked, her brain trying to comprehend the new information.

"Nah. And neither am I." Joka answered for her, although his gaze was directed away from her and at somewhere along the corridor outside of the hotel room. "So if you still needed someone else . . I can help, I guess."

"And I can heal!" Talik added, his bright blonde hair poking out from behind Joka's shoulder.

Flein gripped onto the doorknob for support. Never in her life had she felt the urge to sit so badly. It was still much too early for this sudden intake of information. She briefly wondered if she was still dreaming- although she had to admit, she preferred this dream over the last one.

"You haven't found someone else, have you?" Anji asked, getting more and more anxious the longer Flein was silent. "Because it's completely fine if you have!"

"No . . no, we haven't found anyone." Flein clarified, bringing her hand to her head. Her hair was still tangled from sleep. "Of course you can come back. Joka too . . if he wants." She said the last part doubtfully, as she wasn't entirely sure how willing the dark-haired demon was to joining their team.

"Yaaaay!" Anji cried in relief, clasping her hands together in excitement. The left shoulder of her sweater dropped further down her upper arm, and she hastily pulled it back up.

"Awesome." Joka said, finally revealing a small half-smile. He jerked a thumb at his own chest. "But just because you lead the team, doesn't mean you get to boss me around, got it?" He had said this good-naturedly enough, but was treated to Anji's elbow in his side anyway.

"Don't be rude." she scolded.

"I'm not even the leader." Flein sighed, but a smile still lit up her features. She knew the new group dynamics would make things tough, but Anji was back, and Team Musakui was complete again.

"Oops. Well regardless . ." Joka held his hand out high, his palm facing her, his fingers spread apart slightly. "Consider me a part of the team."

"You got it!" Flein planted an enthusiastic high five onto his palm, having to stand on her toes to reach it.

"Hey!" Joka withdrew his hand in surprise, looking at her reproachfully. "What are you doing?" The other wolf demons looked just as confused- Talik was staring at Joka's withdrawn hand with concern, while Anji was looking at Flein's own hand, which was still raised partially in the air.

"I was giving you a high five?" Flein retracted her own hand in response, although she had no idea what she had done wrong. "It looked like you wanted one?"

"He was expecting you to place your fist on his palm. It's something like a wolf demon handshake."

The smooth voice was a familiar one- just hearing it brought the chaos of last night back to Flein's memory.

The wolf demons turned around to find Kurama standing behind them, wearing the same white shirt and pants as the night before, although now they seemed relatively cleaner. Hiei was close behind him, passing up his companion and continuing ahead, before turning around once he realized the red-haired man had stopped completely in his distraction. His cloak wasn't with him today- he was without clothing on his top half entirely, and was simply adorned in black pants, a sheathed sword at his side.

"W- why is he shirtless?!" Flein thought, yanking her sleepwear down. Now she wished she had those shorts with her. But the two demons had already spotted her- running away now to retrieve them would be confusing, at best.

"Good morning, Kurama, Hiei." she said, nodding to each of them. Hiei merely glanced at her, shoving his right arm deeper into the pocket of his pants. He winced slightly before turning his gaze back to Kurama, one foot still planted in front of him. He looked as if he wanted to keep going, but Kurama's interest in the three wolf demons held him there.

"Good morning, Flein." Kurama replied politely, and Flein had to frantically sift through her memories to figure out whether or not she had ever actually introduced herself to him. Then she remembered that Kirda had called out her name in the forest multiple times in an attempt to get her to stop running, so she shouldn't be surprised if the name was now burned into his mind. "And here I thought seeing a cat demon was a rare occurrence! It's been ages since I've seen a wolf demon. They're quite a reclusive bunch, aren't they?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Joka interrupted, his eyebrow rising again in confusion.

"My apologies. In my curiosity I forgot to introduce myself." Kurama replied, undisturbed by the bluntness of Joka's question. "I'm Kurama, and this is Hiei." He gestured to the fire demon beside him, who was still waiting impatiently a few feet ahead.

"They're part of Team Urameshi." Flein explained further, knowing that the simple knowledge of their names would not be enough to sate the wolf demons' curiosity. She was shielding most of her lower half behind the door now. "They visited us in our hotel room last night." She neglected to mention the reason why they were there in the first place- she hoped that the situation with Rei would be quickly forgotten.

Anji inexplicably looked down to the carpeted floor below, a forlorn expression on her face.

"Well then, nice to meet ya! I'm Joka, and this is Anji and Talik." Joka said obliviously, reflexively raising his hand in the air again but then immediately lowering it after remembering what happened last time. "You said you've seen wolf demons before, but I definitely woulda remembered your face if you were in our village. If they even let you in, anyway."

"I'm positive this would have been before the three of you were born. My methods of getting in the village were not exactly ethical, nor something I'm particularly proud of." Kurama replied, looking away in contemplation. His sentence left a story to tell, and Flein had a feeling it wasn't a good one. He was aware of his audience's expectant faces, but it was obvious he wasn't willing to elaborate. "No matter. It was a lifetime ago."

"Kurama. I'm going ahead." Hiei warned, although he showed no intention of moving. He had somehow slowly advanced several more feet away in the last few minutes.

"Very well. I'll join you." Kurama said, turning his back on the group. Only a brief moment elapsed before he turned back to them as an afterthought. "Tolnij zeld, dafima."

The wolf demons' chins dropped in an almost comedic display of simultaneous bewilderment. "You know Kahojiks?!" Anji cried, taken away from her own introspective silence.

"Baiba! Somkej afen ta jozek?!" Joka laughed, jumping smoothly into his native language without hesitation. Flein stared at Kurama in quiet bafflement, her eyes wide with disbelief. She glanced slightly to the left to see Hiei doing exactly the same thing, which made her come close to letting a loud laugh escape.

"Slow down!" Kurama begged, a drop of sweat sliding down the side of his face. Flein thought she could see his cheeks turn a light shade of pink, although it was hard to believe the man ever got embarrassed. "I admit I was only there for a short time. I've only learned simple phrases-"

"Are you done showing off?" Hiei asked, the pitch of his voice giving away his lingering astonishment. He crossed his arms, shuddered in pain, then shoved them back into his large pockets. Thanks to the thoughtless action, Flein caught a glimpse of his damaged arm- it was charred black, as if he had held it in a fire for an extensive period of time. Just the sight of it made her want to shudder as well. She couldn't help feeling immensely sorry for him, but at the same time she was impressed that he was able to endure the pain without screaming.

"Bye Kurama." Flein smiled knowingly, and Kurama gave one last polite wave before following Hiei into the hotel elevator.

"Anyone want to tell him what he actually said?" Joka grinned, pointing a lazy thumb in his direction.

"Be nice." Anji reminded him, although she was smiling as well.

Before Flein could ask them to let her in on the joke, she heard the bedroom door open slowly across the room. She turned to find Kirda standing there, staring at Flein curiously, her hair undone in wavy black strands that reached all the way to her upper thighs. Rei stood behind her in sloppy black sweatpants, rubbing her eyes drowsily.

"Oh!" Flein gasped, feeling not only guilty that their voices had woken the two up, but that she had not yet invited the wolf demons inside. From where the two girls were standing, their new team members were concealed from view. She ushered the confused demons inside, her arm hastily beckoning them in. "We've got a full team again. And then some." She said her last sentence while looking admirably at Talik, who she was sure would become vital to their team in the upcoming matches.

Although Rei's dazed expression didn't change a bit, Kirda's eyes lit up with recognition. "Anji! You're back!"

"Yes!" Anji replied, accepting an impromptu hug from the water demon. The embrace was short-lived, as Kirda's eyes met Joka's and Talik's. She stepped back to view the newcomers warily.

"This is Joka and Talik." Flein explained, gesturing to the respective males beside her. "Guys, this is Kirda. Over there is Rei."

"Waaaait a minute." Kirda interjected, holding up her hands in front of her chest. She pointed a finger sharply at Joka, then looked over to Flein for clarification. "This is Joka?"

"The one and only!" Joka answered instead, placing his fists on his hips. "I think so, anyway. There might be more."

"I heard you were mean to my Flein." Kirda told him, ignoring his previous comment and sliding between Joka and the cat demon. Flein gritted her teeth in uneasiness. She forgot that her re-telling of their last meeting, while she had tried to stay neutral, might not have left the best impression of Joka.

"You could say that . ." Joka admitted. He backed an inch or two away from Kirda, but the easygoing expression never left his face. "Her appearance is not exactly a good sign where I come from. My bad."

Joka admitting fault left Kirda in momentary surprise before she continued. "If you're going to be a part of our team, then I better not hear you talk bad about her." she explained firmly, arms akimbo. "Because I won't tolerate- . . . are you sniffing me?"

The wolf demon leaned back from his position near her head, where moments before he was softly sniffing the strands of her hair. "Yeah? Why?"

"I . . . haven't washed my hair yet today . . ." Kirda said slowly, her dark green eyes fixed widely on Joka.

"So?" Joka moved on to Rei, who was already backing away from him, her eyebrows lowered in a grimace.

"Don't do thaaaat." Anji pleaded, her face red. Talik focused his gaze on the window curtains, too embarrassed to watch the situation unfold.

"Why not? They're new." Joka explained, as if it were the most natural reaction in the world.

"Can't you tell they don't do that here?!" Anji insisted, covering her cheeks with her hands.

"I didn't get a greeting like that." Flein said, amused at Rei's attempts to duck out of Joka's sniffing range.

"I didn't want to smell you." Joka clarified, before turning back to Rei. He lightly sniffed her bun, then squinted his left eye in a wince.

"Gee, thanks." Flein rolled her eyes, although she could have predicted that answer.

"Don't be rude!" Anji scolded Joka, looking mortified beyond belief. He ignored her, pinching his nose with his fingers.

"By the way, this one stinks." he declared, pointing another finger at Rei. Her eyes widened in horror, and she involuntarily covered her bun with her hands, as if this would take back whatever Joka had smelled.

"What did I just say?!" Anji cried, sinking to the ground in a defeated crouch. Flein heard Kirda erupt into a short cackle beside her.

"What? It's true!" Joka persisted, causing Rei to glare daggers at his back. "I don't even think I've smelled something like that before!"

"I know that but . ." Anji hissed loudly behind her hand. Rei abruptly turned her back to the group, her black bun wobbling on top of her head.

"I'm getting dressed." she said curtly, before storming off into the bedroom and slamming the door behind her. Joka looked at the closed door in confusion before shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, you've already made Rei leave the room. I guess I can't hate you too badly for that!" Kirda laughed.

"As much as I'd hate to follow her, getting dressed and ready is probably a good idea." Flein mentioned, thinking of their upcoming match. It was still early in the morning, but they had no idea what time it would be. There was no chance she could go back to sleep now anyway.

She turned to the wolf demons, who were now loitering around casually in the sitting room. "Um . . make yourself at home in the meantime."